Breathing artistic hospitality

How does my whole life breath artistic hospitality? This is the question I have been musing over during my walk through art school and whilst living under the roofs of three different families. These communities have embodied and extended different forms of hospitality and have shaped my developing thinking on this question. 

Through a series of intentional moments in my life I want to think about how I can live out (breath) artistic hospitality in my whole being. The main area that I would like to start exploring is around the dinner table. Through my most recent research on hospitality I have gleaned many interesting facts about cultural etiquette from friends all over the world. I am hoping to think through how these different cultural etiquettes can be seen in our British culture and if I can use them in some of my artist-orchestrated-meals and clash them together. These meals will be documented via my website and Instagram so that as the project develops it can be learnt from, refined and grown. It is a highly experimental project with a lot of spontaneity and exploration. 

One conversation that I had with a Northern Irish friend who's recently moved to Canada has been a key foundation and informer of this project. She challenged me in my thinking when she said:

“I think lots of western cultures have a high standard of presentation over the feeling of togetherness and the guest being known. It's often more about the host being known as a good host! The atmosphere created that makes you feel relaxed and welcome depends so much on knowing the guest (will they be uncomfortable if the house is messy? will they be uncomfortable if it's too clean and they are scared of spilling anything?) or being the calm and collected host - the host's spirit pours into whatever they do, if they're thinking about themselves, you can "taste" it.. same with if they're thinking about their guests as people to love not reflections or reviews of themselves.”

This is a big consideration when I come to designing and orchestrating these meals.