DETAILS

Join us for a series of community kitchen dinners, made from recipes for survival, storytelling, and solidarity. Inspired by artist projects from the imperial occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan including Enemy Kitchen and Combat Kitchen, Peace dinners will feature conversations around food, memory, migration from regions the US/Israel empire is currently in conflict with. Led by artist Hesam Salehbeig Hesam previously performed in both the bridge and Resurge performance festivals at Co-Prosperity and will help coordinate the series “Iranian cuisine, much like Persian carpet weaving, is fundamentally a folk art shaped within the homes of ordinary people and carried through generations by women across cities and villages. Although exceptional examples have emerged from aristocratic households and royal courts, the essence of Iranian cooking remains rooted in domestic knowledge, memory, and care. Professional cooking differs not in method, but in scale: the chef reproduces the cooking of household women with larger quantities and greater equipment, always attempting to reach the depth and precision of home cooking.” (Ketab-e Mostatab-e Ashpazi by Najaf Daryabandari and Fahimeh Rastkar, 2009.) For the second dinner, Hesam draws from recipes gathered from Iranian women throughout his life, alongside recipes preserved through the work of researchers and archival projects across different periods and regions of Iran. A portion of the proceeds will support efforts to rebuild homes destroyed during the war in Iran. Many families have been displaced or deeply affected, and this gathering hopes to contribute, even modestly, to the rebuilding of their lives and communities. Sliding scale ticket sales $25-$100 will go 100% toward causes selected by each host. More details, menus, and good meals with good people coming soon. Presented by Public Media Institute, in collaboration with Marz Community Brewing.