The Panilion (Community based artist residency, Installation, Events)

I was commissioned by Stichting Charlois aan het Water and Mya NAC cultuurfonds to come up with a project for the Pavijoen aan het Water for the duration of the Charlois Speciaal Festival in the South of Rotterdam. I decided to build three different ovens, a clay pizza oven, a saj and a tandoor (to reflect the various communities living in the area). The construction was only possible because of the participation of people from the surrounding area, students, and kids who came to help.
The Pavilion was then renamed The Panilion.
During the festival, I invited members of the local community to come during the day to use the ovens and bake different types of bread. In the evening, local cooks, artists, designers, and myself engaged with the bakers, their bread, and their culture, offering a different menu each night.
Dinners were interactive and designed to engage people in discussions about culture, migration, and conviviality. The idea of the project came from the history of the area, including the prominence of wheat trade, proximity of the venue to a flour factory, the multicultural demographic of Charlois, and current worldwide issues related to migration.

Bread as a tool for sharing and conviviality [company: com- (“with”) -panis (“bread”)].

During the ten day festival, nine people came to bake bread from four continents and six countries, sixteen people cooked dinner, about 230 people came to the restaurant, and many more stopped to chat. After the Festival the ovens remain accessible anytime by anyone who wishes to use them.

Images