Table Fellowship: Swept under the carpet?

For many families, eating together is an important part of everyday life. It is an opportunity to consume food – and at the same time it means being together, exchanging ideas and discussing things, enjoying each other’s company. However, conflicts are often played out at the dinner table and sometimes resolved there; relationships are strengthened or clarified. It is a place where cultural and social traditions are lived and passed on. But who sits with whom at the table? Who has the floor and who listens? How do people react to disagreements? How are decisions made? Who decides, who makes the rules? What role does the seating arrangement play? And what conflicts are avoided?

Perhaps a traditional family meal is served, or perhaps just a ready-made meal. In any case, what comes to the table—more or less visibly—are the relationships between family members, their demands and obligations, which are discussed and preserved. Thus, the table community is also something like a regular negotiation of coexistence. Who belongs and what the rituals look like can vary greatly.

In an open area of the exhibition Family Matters, two tables invite visitors to share an experience. While visitors can participate in various conversations and table situations at the large table using VR glasses and top-down projection, a smaller table is available for younger audiences and corresponding educational activities. At the same time, visitors can leave their thoughts and reflections on the wall.

The scenes are based on real stories from Berlin society and are impressively portrayed by nine actors. They are based on 15 interviews with people who talked about their personal experiences at the family table and their particular family constellations.

Screenwriters Hannah Ley and Clemens Bechtel developed the scenes for the installation from this material.

Idea/concept, curatorial team Team Digitales, Clemens Bechtel, Julia Kuhnert, Vivien Kunde, Andreas König, Hannah Ley, Isabel Meixner, Daniela Prochaska, Research and interviews Clemens Bechtel, Andreas König, Hannah Ley, Screenplay Hannah Ley, Clemens Bechtel

Direction Hannah Ley, Clemens Bechtel, Actors Verena Bonkirch, Sora Ley, Thembi Menck, Martin Ontrop, Yola Otufowora, Susanne Scholl, Salim Saglam, Christina Tzatzaraki, Mehmet Yilmaz, Inner voices Elsa Kahrmann, Niklas Ulonska, Hannah Ley, Martin Ontrop, Camera Andreas König, Lighting Andreas König, Franzi Busl, Audio Nils Plambeck, Andreas König, Set design Andreas König, Set decoration Daniela Prochaska, Costume design Tanja Liebermann, Costume assistants Julika König, Penny Beiersdorf, Makeup Julia Grieshaber, Lamp construction Mischa Rhode, Project management Julia Kuhnert

Production Humboldt Forum Foundation, Timeprints, Production Assistant Kersten Johannsen, Team Assistant Anika Ziemer, Post-production Daniela Prochaska, Andreas König, Music Andreas König, Voice-over Mark Mullens