Palestine Hosting Society

   Artist Mirna Bamieh has been working on the politics of disappearance throughout her artwork, so her passion with understanding the politics of food and the disappearance of traditional recipes comes as no surprise. Mirna recalls how an encounter with Palestinian chefs while commissioned to work on a research on restaurant culture in Palestine frustrated her, as chefs were claiming that there was no distinct Palestinian cuisine. Mirna was determined to debunk this myth, which she believes is normalised by many due to decades of systematic dispossession and colonial theft of resources and culture. She set out on a learning project, which led her to centre her work on food practices, delving into a beautiful journey of exploration, sharing and collaboration with the aim to construct and reconstruct relationships between people, place, history, society and politics.

   To date, Palestine Hosting Society has carried out several projects, including “Family Dinners”, “Our  Nabulsi Table”, “Our Jerusalem Table”, “A Wondering in Flavors: The Old City of Jerusalem, a table, a tour and a map”, “The Wheat Feast”, “The Edible Wild Plants of Palestine Table”, “Fermentation Station”, “Trails of Taste-telling”, and “Menu of (dis)appearance”. After an intensive research period for each project, the collective creates a menu that is shared with 40-60 guests over one long table, with dishes carefully selected to create spaces of reflection on socio-political realities, attitudes, historical practices, and the suppressed elements of history. Through this project and her online social media presence, Mirna has connected and collaborated with Palestinians from all over the world and from different generations to uncover those forgotten Palestinian recipes and to reveal how the Palestinian cuisine goes beyond the conventional Musakhan and Ma’loubeh and is far richer, more complex and full of history, flavour and beauty.

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Volunteering Opportunities: Project-based Volunteering Opportunities.

Other Services: Art consultancies, catered tours and events.