La Kokkerilla / The Kitchen Table Machine
(2008-2015, revived at festivals through 2022)
In 2008, Globe Aroma launched its very first participatory art project: The Table Kitchen, led by curator/theatre-maker Ernst Maréchal. It premiered at Fedasil shelter The Little Castle in Brussels. Around themes of hunger, abundance, table rituals and hospitality, an artistic experience emerged in which cooking and storytelling fused into a sensory experience.
La Kokkerilla, also known as the Kitchen Table Machine, is an edible installation conceived and designed by Rooftoptiger, in collaboration with residents of The Little Castle including Kito Sino, a resident of The Little Castle at the time. The structure, built from recycled materials, consists of a rotating table around an open Mad Max-like installation kitchen. Scents and sounds drew visitors to the heart of the event, where chefs served live stories as they cooked.
The machine challenged the chefs - from different cultures - to maintain their individuality as well as work together as one collective. They were literally and figuratively given a stage: interaction with the audience was central.
The Kitchen Table Machine travelled through various festivals and cultural venues in Flanders from 2008 to 2017, with a strong focus on refugee-related themes and in collaboration with refugees. It was shown at the Wintervuur festival in Antwerp and at Pukkelpop, among others.
In addition, the installation was also used as a theatrical statement around meat consumption and climatchange at BUDA Kortrijk and the Verbeke Foundation, among others.
In 2021-2022, the Kitchen Table Machine made a comeback at the Babelbühne, among other venues, each time in combination with social-activist programmes, often in collaboration with people with a flight past.
Design and realisation: Rooftoptiger
in cooperation with Ernst Maréchal, Kito Sino, Globe Aroma and Klein Kasteeltje, Fedasiel
