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Earlier this year a group of artists associated with Carnegie Mellon’s School of Art launched an experimental project to spark street-level conversations about countries in conflict with the United States. From Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighbourhood, the Conflict Kitchen is a take-out venue which engages its customers through culinary and cultural diversity. Over the course of a year it will feature four countries at odds with the US, each over four months. Last month Conflict Kitchen transitioned from its first iteration as an Iranian restaurant to its next version as an Afghani one – with a new name, a fresh menu, an updated facade and the promise of ever-evolving conversations.

“Food is such an essential part of culture that we saw it as a great way to engage the public in human-centered discussion,” notes one of the project’s founders Dawn Weleski. “In contrast to the polarising effect of broadcast media we’ve sought to create a platform which can support a more subtle exchange of culture and politics. With food as a mediator it becomes easier for customers to consider the everyday life of people – they become responsive in a different way and consider more nuanced perspectives. They start to consider the people and culture behind conflicts at a government or military level.”
 

The new Afghani version of Conflict Kitchen is called Bolani Pazi and offers the popular street food bolani. The stuffed flatbread comes with a choice of four fillings – pumpkin, potato and leek, spinach or lentil – topped off with a dollop of natural yoghurt. The bolani are bundled in a printed wrapper which features the viewpoints of various Afghanis on topics ranging from popular culture to politics. “This forms a starting point to conversations and we deliberately include contrasting and diverse opinions to highlight the complexity of culture,” points out Weleski. The resulting discussions at Conflict Kitchen are not always political but tend to support various kinds of cultural insight. “It get’s at the heart of daily life,” tells project partner Jon Rubin. “ I’ve watched a Japanese Buddhist and a Muslim start to chat from the takeout window. They ended up in a rich exchange of experiences and perspectives on food, spirituality, rituals and symbolism.”

Rubin’s interventionist artworks explore the social dynamics of public place. In the case of Conflict Kitchen he sought to create space for civil dialogue around both differences and similarities. “Difference doesn’t require us to be damning. We’re keen to encourage dialogue which doesn’t blame or accuse and may be driven by curiosity rather than media prescribed positions.” He goes on to observe that both food and music are significant ways in which we understand culture and tells of an upcoming idea to create an online musical archive for sharing between US and Afghani Conflict Kitchen supporters. There are also plans for a live video feed between the takeout window in Pittsburgh and a hotel lobby in Kabul. The peer-to-peer concept features across the initiative, including the partial funding of Bolani Pazi via the Kickstarer platform.

The venue is staffed by twelve people through week day lunchtime sessions and late nights on Friday and Saturdays. Weleski is responsible for training the workforce from food preparation to hosting conversations. Factual information is shared alongside tips on triggering conversations amongst customers. Handling of contentious topics and tricky questions are covered through role play. “It’s not just about inviting people to talk to us but also encouraging interaction between customers. Personal reflection can generate a range of connections. I remember one woman who had a Pennsylvanian Dutch mother and a Persian father and spoke of the cultural tension this could create,” recalls Weleski. “A migrant joined in the conversation and could empathize with that tension from a different perspective. Once these kinds of discussions start happening people begin to expand their personal insights into social ones and appreciate similarity and difference in a new way.”
 

During the first iteration of the venue Iranian fare was served up as the Kubideh Kitchen. A minced kebab topped with onion, mint, sumac and basil was wrapped in baked barbari bread to form the Persian kubideh. In collaboration with the local Iranian community and contacts in Iran, events were devised to support the project’s focus on social interaction. A Skype meal was held between Pittsburgh and Tehran. Over an identical Persian feast of chicken with pomergranate and walnuts plus beef with greens and dried lime, forty people on both sides spoke about subjects from employment and education to dating and rock concerts. Earlier this month Conflict Kitchen hosted a Persian festival which included a documentary film screening, a varied menu, live traditional music, a cooking show and late night Persian beats.

Transitioning into the Afghani phase brings with it a fresh set of challenges. “Local Afghani’s in Pittsburgh are few and far between,” admits Rubin. “The UN in Afghanistan have been helping us track down communities in  the US who we may be able to collaborate with and our networks are starting to present opportunities. Orgnanisations like Beyond the 11th, which was started by two American women widowed by 9/11 to empower Afghani widows, have been in touch to explore collaboration.” He goes on to note that the change in seasons will present a challenge to the nature of social exchange at the takeout window which has become a popular hang out spot during warmer months. However the evolving nature of the initiative means that new ideas are constantly on the back burner – with people frequently giving their own thoughts on new directions for the venture.

The following two iterations of Conflict Kitchen are pitched to include North Korea and Venezuela but an off-shoot concept around food exchange and countries involved in border conflict is also under consideration. This might feature feuding states like India and Pakistan and may manifest itself as a food truck or an attachment to an existing restaurant. “We even get emails from online followers who have created their own take on the project,” informs Rubin. “A woman from Arizona contacted us early on to let us know of her family’s intentions to hold Conflict Dinners on Monday nights – with the featured country to be selected by their eight year old child.”

Weleski admits that their initial hunch that food could deepen conversations has taken them farther than they had initially imagined. Return customers tell her about their onward discussions that have stemmed from their visit to Conflict Kitchen. It is this open-endedness that has drawn her to the role of a public practise artist. Bolani Pazi continues the mission to appease appetites and stimulate dialogue. As one customer observes – “it’s a delicious way to learn about becoming more human.”

Related posts:
Fruitful Pursuits
Still Life, Smooth Moves

An edited version of this Conflict Kitchen article appears in my Change Observer Project Report on Design Observer.

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