DISHCOURSE
Interdisciplinary Dinner Talks

A couse partisipant’s project by: Anne Pfennig
Venue: Various (see below)
Time: From April 2015 – ongoing

DISHCOURSE – Interdisciplinary dinner talks is a series of gatherings, inviting practitioners from different creative disciplines into private locations in Sweden, Germany and beyond. The project functions as an informal social platform, enabling and exploring discursive encounters for interdisciplinary exchange within the fields of art, architecture, crafts, design and beyond. Each evening stages a certain focus, related to the local setting and the background of the invited set of guests.

The idea was formed and put into action as a collaborative project between Johanna Tysk (Creative Director, Design/Art/Social Work, SWE), Jonatan Lennman (Product Designer, SWE) and Anne Pfennig (Art Mediator/Cultural Producer and Organiser, GER/SWE) in the spring of 2015.

A variation of the concept, ‘mobile DISHCOURSE’, was used as a public ‘pop up’ intervention at two festivals in Stockholm in summer 2015. For this occasion, Jonatan Lennman and Anne Pfennig produced a simple system of wooden modules in form of a folding table and several boxes containing all the material that is needed for the setting. Two trolleys transported the table construction, boxes, materials, food and stools. The arrangement functioned as a platform for exchange and discussions, focusing on topics related to the site and the local community where it popped up. People were invited to sit down for a talk with free food and drinks.

Since autumn 2015 Anne Pfennig is developing the format independently. For each upcoming DISHCOURSE she is collaborating with partners of different creative professional and local contexts. Together with the ‘co-host’ and related to his/her professional practice a (local) focus of interest is worked out. Based on the topic a set of guests, living (and working) in the direct district or city, is invited to the co-host’s home or work space to share a common meal and conversations.

Overview of recent DISHCOURSE events

DISHCOURSE #7 in Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg / January 2016
Focus: LIFE WORTH LABOUR. What pushes you forward? What are you rubbing  on? Working and living in Wilhelmsburg

DISHCOURSE #6 in Hildesheim / November 2015
Focus: Interdisciplinary encounters in Performing Arts; Discursive projects and spaces in Hildesheim; Interdependencies between the Kulturcampus Domäne (Insitute for Cultural Studies, University Hildesheim) and the city / its inhabitants

DISHCOURSE #5 in Södermalm, Stockholm / September 2015
Setting/Focus: A gathering of organisers, locals from the area and practitioners  related to aspects of the research platform and open workshop Repair Society: Ringvägen, discussing the issue of ‘Repair’ in a personal, local and broader social sense

mobile DISHCOURSE in Fittja, Stockholm / September 2015
Setting/Focus: Välkomna på Fikabordet! Once again, as a public variation of the DISHCOURSE concept, we invited to our mobile table for conversations, cake and coffee. This time as part of Fittja open’s picnic next to the Fittja Kitchen. Talking about the place, art, food and living in Fittja, a suburb of greater Stockholm.

mobile DISHCOURSE in Tullinge, Stockholm / August 2015
Setting/Focus: The table is round! We welcome you to sit down, to eat, drink and discuss with us! Topics related to life, experience and the future of Tullinge!

DISHCOURSE #4 in Neukölln, Berlin / July 2015
Focus: Interdisciplinary project work & professional independence

DISHCOURSE #3 in Västertorp, Stockholm / June 2015
Focus: (Non) Existence of interdisciplinary structures at Konstfack Stockholm / The university’s (non) accessibility for a heterogeneous range of international and national students

DISHCOURSE #2 in Fittja, Stockholm / May 2015
Focus: Interdisciplinary approaches to work with art in a heterogeneous social sphere

DISHCOURSE #1 in Tensta, Stockholm / April 2015
Focus: (Non) Existence of interdisciplinary structures at Konstfack Stockholm / The university’s (non) accessibility for a heterogeneous range of international and national students

More about DISHCOURSE on> www.aboutDISHCOURSE.wordpress.com
Download Project booklet here (PDF)> DISHCOURSE

Anne Pfennig (GE) works as an art mediator and cultural organiser in Germany.  Recent locations of her education and practice are universities, museums, art-spaces, foundations and cultural projects in Berlin (The School of Life, Haus der Kulturen der Welt), Stockholm (Botkyrka Konsthall, Stockholm Stadsmission), Hamburg (Galerie im Marstall Ahrensburg, Sparkassen Kulturstiftung Stormarn, MS Artville, Netzwerk der VolontärInnen), Bremen (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Universität Bremen, Das Viertel e.V., Overbeck Museum, Mariann-Steegmann-Insitut, Kunstfrühling) and Oldenburg (Kulturetage, Kunstwissenschaftliches Institut Universität Oldenburg, Forschungsstelle für Kinder- und Jugendbuchliteratur).

Partly living in Stockholm from autumn 2014 to spring 2016, she assisted at the art center Botkyrka Konsthall during the Festival New Biennial for Art and Architecture in Botkyrka and took part in its site specific residency program in Fittja. In parallel, she attended the professional program Organising Discourse at Konstfack Stockholm, where she founded the project DISHCOURSE – Interdisciplinary dinner talks along with Johanna Tysk and Jonatan Lennman. In this format she follows her passion to explore social settings and to bring together people from diverse creative disciplines for sharing thoughts and knowledge.

Currently she is based in Berlin, working as a program producer at The School of Life Berlin. The private educational institution deals with questions of everyday life to develope emotional intelligence through the help of philosophy, psychology and art. In parallel, she is working with the DISHCOURSE-concept and freelances between diverse disciplines. Anne holds a BA in Art & Media Studies  and German Language & Literature from Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg followed by a MA in Art & Cultural Mediation from University Bremen.