Information for Chefs, Restaurants, Hotels, Galleries and Cultural Partners
CONVIVIUM brings together large-format photographic series and independent culinary interpretations.
The focus is not on combining an exhibition with gastronomy as a mere accompanying programme. The photographs are not decoration for a menu, and the culinary response does not simply illustrate what is visible. Two artistic signatures encounter one another: a theme is first interpreted through photography. A chef responds through taste, aroma, temperature, texture, form and consistency.
From this encounter emerges a shared experience in which seeing, thinking, tasting and personal exchange become connected.
The Idea
Every work cycle within CONVIVIUM begins with a completed photographic series. It generally comprises five to twelve large-format works and explores a complex emotional, human or sensory theme.
Photography is the first voice.
The culinary interpretation then develops independently and bears the personal signature of the participating chef. It may take up ideas from the photographs, contradict them, reveal hidden aspects, continue their line of thought or open an entirely new perspective.
A photograph of wrath does not necessarily call for intensity or heat. Gluttony does not have to be represented through abundance. Acedia does not necessarily taste heavy. Obvious responses are possible, but they are never obligatory. The aim is not to translate images literally into food. CONVIVIUM becomes interesting precisely where an independent culinary position emerges.
Two Artistic Signatures on Equal Terms
The photographic works are the starting point, but they do not provide binding instructions. The chef encounters the complete series, its development, the ideas behind the individual images and the artist’s interpretation of the theme. From this foundation, an independent culinary dramaturgy can emerge. The flavours, ingredients, temperatures, textures and forms that arise remain part of the chef’s own artistic signature.
The response may be harmonious or contradictory. It may fulfil expectations, break them or deliberately move in a different direction. Perhaps a single image is condensed into one course. Perhaps the response unfolds across several dishes. Perhaps a menu does not respond to individual photographs at all, but follows the emotional movement of the entire series. Neither art form should be subordinated to the other.
Photography does not pose a commission. Culinary art does not provide a solution. Both offer different approaches to the same conceptual and emotional space.
What a CONVIVIUM Evening Might Look Like
One possible format begins with the arrival of the guests.
The large-format photographs are already present in the space. As an initial sensory approach, an amuse-bouche might contain several small bites – perhaps as many as there are images in the respective series. The guests move among the works, spend time with them, talk to one another and meet both the artist and the chef.
Before each course, the artist introduces the ideas behind a photograph or a section of the series. The chef then speaks about their own interpretation. The course is served. The image remains visible, allowing the different interpretations to unfold and interact. Taste, aroma, temperature and texture enter into dialogue with the photograph.
The result is neither a conventional lecture nor a menu accompanied by decorative art. The guests experience a dialogue between two forms of expression – and their own perception becomes part of that dialogue.
Yet this is only one possibility.
CONVIVIUM is not a ready-made event package. Its specific dramaturgy is developed collaboratively and may change according to the series, the culinary concept, the venue, the available space and the character of the participating partners.
Possible Formats
CONVIVIUM can take many different forms:
- a multi-course menu in which individual photographs or themes receive culinary interpretations;
- an exclusive evening combining a large-format exhibition, conversations and an accompanying menu;
- an exhibition opening extended through small dishes created specifically for the works;
- an open evening with several sensory stations;
- a temporary exhibition with a special culinary opening or closing event;
- a recurring format in which new CONVIVIUM series are presented and interpreted anew;
- or an entirely new form arising from the ideas and possibilities of the participating partners.
These formats are deliberately not defined conclusively. A restaurant works differently from a hotel. A gallery offers different spaces and creates different expectations from a cultural venue. New solutions can emerge precisely from these differences.
The Photographic Work
The series generally comprise five to twelve photographic works. They are conceived for large-format presentation and are intended to be clearly visible and physically present within the space. Their themes possess a strong emotional, human or sensory dimension and therefore offer different points of departure for culinary interpretation.
Each series has its own dedicated page containing:
- an introduction to the theme;
- a description of the photographic visual language;
- the complete gallery;
- background information on the individual works;
- the number of works in the series;
- its emotional and thematic fields;
- the current status of its culinary interpretation.
New CONVIVIUM series will be created continuously, with several new work cycles planned each year. Over time, this will create a growing selection of themes, visual languages and possibilities for culinary interpretation. For restaurants, hotels and cultural venues, it also opens the possibility of developing CONVIVIUM as a recurring format – with new exhibitions, new interpretations and changing artistic encounters.
What I Contribute
I develop the photographic series, their conceptual foundations and their visual dramaturgy. The works are prepared for large-format presentation and accompanied by me personally.
Depending on the nature of the collaboration, my contribution may include:
- the photographic series;
- the artistic concept and interpretation;
- texts and background information on the works;
- conversations or brief introductions during the event;
- the collaborative development of the dramaturgy;
- content for websites, press and social media;
- photographic documentation of the project;
- inclusion of the event in the communication channels of Artis Umbrae.
The specific form is developed jointly and adapted to the venue and the planned format.
What the Culinary Partner Contributes
I am looking for chefs who do not merely assign a menu to the photographs, but encounter them with their own artistic position.
The culinary interpretation may respond to individual photographs, the entire series or the relationships between the works. It may be direct, abstract, sensory, intellectual, playful, unsettling or contradictory. The decisive question is not whether the culinary response corresponds to my photographic interpretation. What matters is that it possesses an artistic signature of its own.
The chef is not the executor of a photographic concept, but the second artistic voice of CONVIVIUM.
What a Venue Contributes
Restaurants, hotels, galleries and cultural venues create the space in which these two forms of expression encounter one another and become an experience for guests.
Depending on the project, this may include:
- suitable spaces for presenting large-format photographs;
- gastronomic and organisational infrastructure;
- collaborative development of the event format;
- guest communication, reservations and support;
- integration into existing cultural, culinary or event programmes;
- joint public relations and communication.
Not every venue needs to fulfil all of these requirements from the outset. The form of presentation and the dimensions of the photographs can be adapted to the existing spaces.
Why CONVIVIUM?
For guests, CONVIVIUM creates an experience that extends beyond both a conventional restaurant visit and the customary viewing of an exhibition. Photography is not merely seen. Culinary art is not merely consumed. Both are explained, interpreted, placed in relation to one another and experienced personally.
For restaurants, hotels and cultural venues, this can create an independent event format that:
- brings art and culinary culture together on equal terms;
- appeals to new audiences interested in culture and gastronomy;
- creates space for personal encounters with the artist and the chef;
- offers visually and thematically strong content for press, websites and social media;
- can be repeated and further developed through new series;
- makes the venue’s own culinary and cultural signature visible.
Its communicative potential is not an addition created afterwards. It emerges naturally from a project with an independent artistic foundation. CONVIVIUM is not intended to appear as a promotional event, but to convince through genuine artistic collaboration.
Interested in a Collaboration?
CONVIVIUM is currently being developed. The first photographic series has been completed, and further work cycles will follow.
I am looking for chefs with a distinctive culinary signature, as well as restaurants, hotels, galleries and cultural venues interested in exploring new ways of bringing photography and culinary art together. A collaboration may begin with an existing series. Equally, an initial conversation may lead to new ideas for presentation, dramaturgy and event format.
If a series already evokes flavours, temperatures, textures, contradictions or stories of your own, it may be the beginning of a shared CONVIVIUM.