PhD Research Projects: Gathering through Gathering

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Gathering through Gathering is rooted in the belief that storytelling, especially when it emerges from communities with vulnerable pasts, must be approached with care, respect, and reciprocity. Rather than applying extractive methods where ‘research questions’ are imposed, the focus shifts towards designing the gathering – especially around food – where stories naturally unfold. Organising and hosting this together with the community further gives them agency to determine the questions and answers they themselves seek from each other. 

This performance activates a dining table within the exhibition space, and involves eight dinner guests, mimicking a communal dinner originally held at Nyah Lasem, a community-based museum in Java’s port town of Lasem. It seeks to challenge how museums present lived experiences, often catering to external audiences, by rethinking how stories are shared, curated, then told – by whom, and for whom. The act of cooking and sharing food becomes both a performance and a mode of translation. Recipes passed down through generations will be interpreted, reimagined and reproduced as part of the event, served not only to the dining performers but also to the audience – transforming food into a vessel for memory, dialogue and participation. 

This project is a part of Feysa Poetry's 'Dismantling the Mistress’s House' research, currently exhibited at PhD Research Projects 2025 Conference and Exhibition. 

The audience will be served a small meal while watching the performance. If you are interested in joining as a dinner guest, please reach out to Feysa Poetry by stating any food allergies.

Image: New Years Eve Dinner at the Back Porch of Nyah Lasem (Author: Divasio Suryawan for Museum Nyah Lasem, 2024)