We are the facilitators, the experts of the workshop which will be thoroughly described here. It is a project that can’t be implemented and moderated by others rather than us because we too are part of the tool set. Our philosophy is deeply grounded in the importance of words, we have designed this short programme in the form several one off but repeatable events. It is a method of encouraging discussions and exchange of ideas around topics concerning the body, gender, and all other intersections which are of our embodied lived experience. We’re using food making (decorating) and the meal setting as a foundation for an approachable way to encourage these conversations.
Each person is asked to produce a set of three words describing themselves, one for each of the following categories (one word per category is recommended but we won’t stop people from adding more):
Their body
Their gender/sexuality
Their identity
(more words for the previous categories might be added here)
We ask the participators to combine and merge their three words into one (there can be multiple version or combinations, in fact we encourage this), then write their neologism on a piece of paper which we will provide. During the workshop we encourage and facilitate discussions among the participants. Throughout the course of the conversations the participants’ words may change or be adapted to what is being discussed. The direction of the conversations varies from group to group, but the topics we introduce are always primarily around the body and gender/sexuality (as well as their intersections).
Once each group member has achieved their desired label, the food is then decorated with this new word they created. This is another chance whereby the individual descriptive words, or new label, may be adapted – but we do encourage this throughout the experience. We hope the length of the entire process, with time to ponder and deliberate, encourages the re-thinking and revisiting of their descriptive words and new self-designed label. Once the food has been decorated, the food with the label on it can be eaten.
Finally, we ask the participants to fill out a Personal Facts label for themselves to keep as a record of their discussion and self-reflection. We take a photocopy of the document as a record for ourselves and for our archives. This Personal Facts label is inspired by the Nutritional Facts labels which are usually placed on food packaging, another hint at the “You are what you eat” concept.
The self-designed label does not have to make any kind of logical sense. The new words don’t necessarily have to:
Be worn (in anyway);
Become the way in which someone defines themselves from that point on;
Be shared outside the context of the workshop
The events will evolve and change with each sitting, they are living, changing experiences. Each delivery of the event will aid the evolution of the next, while different groups of people will also elicit different kinds of conversations and responses.
Each person is asked to produce a set of three words describing themselves, one for each of the following categories (one word per category is recommended but we won’t stop people from adding more):
Their body
Their gender/sexuality
Their identity
(more words for the previous categories might be added here)
We ask the participators to combine and merge their three words into one (there can be multiple version or combinations, in fact we encourage this), then write their neologism on a piece of paper which we will provide. During the workshop we encourage and facilitate discussions among the participants. Throughout the course of the conversations the participants’ words may change or be adapted to what is being discussed. The direction of the conversations varies from group to group, but the topics we introduce are always primarily around the body and gender/sexuality (as well as their intersections).
Once each group member has achieved their desired label, the food is then decorated with this new word they created. This is another chance whereby the individual descriptive words, or new label, may be adapted – but we do encourage this throughout the experience. We hope the length of the entire process, with time to ponder and deliberate, encourages the re-thinking and revisiting of their descriptive words and new self-designed label. Once the food has been decorated, the food with the label on it can be eaten.
Finally, we ask the participants to fill out a Personal Facts label for themselves to keep as a record of their discussion and self-reflection. We take a photocopy of the document as a record for ourselves and for our archives. This Personal Facts label is inspired by the Nutritional Facts labels which are usually placed on food packaging, another hint at the “You are what you eat” concept.
The self-designed label does not have to make any kind of logical sense. The new words don’t necessarily have to:
Be worn (in anyway);
Become the way in which someone defines themselves from that point on;
Be shared outside the context of the workshop
The events will evolve and change with each sitting, they are living, changing experiences. Each delivery of the event will aid the evolution of the next, while different groups of people will also elicit different kinds of conversations and responses.