Samah Hijawi has been engaging with Beursschouwburg’s kitchen, team and audiences for quite a while now in both her projects Kitchen. Table and Aesthetics of the Political. Her recent residencies have focused on developing her food performance Chasing Za’atar (from Jordan to Belgium). In this encounter she brings her research on the herb and the mixture Za’atar full circle. Over a meal she will revisit the stories, the landscapes and the recipes that can be traced by following the life-line of one herb; from its organic form as a plant to its spiritual meanings in astrology and mythology, and its association to contemporary forms of resistance and the meals that it inspires along the way. 

in English

WHO?
Samah Hijawi is a multi-media artist (a painter, a performer, an astrologer, a story teller, a researcher and an academic, a cook — it’s up to you to decide). Regardless of the form through which she materialises her work, her projects are always deeply rooted in historical narratives which are used to re-imagine our contemporary life. The spectacular outcomes of the trails of migration of the different species in our worlds is a topic she comes back to often in her work. In 2020 she started a long-term project called Kitchen. Table. where she researches the movement of food practices over time and across geographies, and the body as a site of food memory.  Her works have been shown in The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Brussels, Museum M, The Hayward Gallery in London, BOZAR and Beursschouwburg in Brussels, MoMa and Apex Art - New York; Darat al Funun - Amman, among others.
samahhijawi.com