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,” engaging local people and businesses in a three-day workshop. In partnership with the Ecomuseum, “Cena di Interspecies” was a temporary museum takeover of the Ecomuseum Portale Sottochiesa and a participatory art experiment in late July 2019.

Through art-making, conversation, and food, we aimed to create a safe, shared space. Together, we pondered questions like: Whose voices are ready to emerge? What do we envision for our shared future? How do we celebrate community that is defined beyond just us? What is needed now?