What’s an interspecies dinner party?
Cena di Interspecie seeks to engage, document and grow interpersonal connection and ecological conversation within the Taleggio Valley.
Different vantage points exist within the Taleggio Valley: animal, human, vegetal. These voices speak to each other and exist together in an interconnected ecosystem. We are able to see and feel these connections when we de-prioritize our human-centric position and see the environment—and all included species—as equals.
Cena di Interspecie was about seeing the connections that make up the whole. We set out to understand what community means in Val Taleggio from all perspectives (human and non-human) in an attempt to understand the grasses and pastures. We believed that in order to consider the landscape and ecology of Val Taleggio, we needed to hear and engage all voices.
This led us to create a social art project, “Cena di Interspecie,” in collaboration with the Sotttochiesa community, engaging local people and businesses in a three-day workshop. We did a “museum takeover” of the Val Taleggio Ecomuseo, hosting interactive art exhibitions and community art-making programs, spanning over a three-day period in July 2019.
The project included “Dream to Table,” a cheese-eating meditation and interactive installation as well a large scale mind-map drawing of Val Taleggio. Postcard-making and an intergenerational luncheon were some of the featured programs.
Our project sought to create a community space and widen the definition of kinship through art-making, conversation, and food.