Group Exhibition "Hello Lübeck" - Dialogues with the Kunsthalle St. Annen 21.6.2024

In her immersive, multi-sensory performance series at the Kunsthalle St. Annen, Nezaket Ekici brings together visual art, live performance, and culinary creation in an inclusive and participatory setting. Commissioned to create an Art Dinner, Ekici draws inspiration from her earlier work Searching Another—itself based on Willem Grimm’s painting Still Life with Pug and Roosters (1951/53) which was part of the group exhibition "Hello Lübeck" - Dialogue with the Kunsthalle St. Annen. This marked the first part of her project, where Ekici collaboratively solved a large-scale puzzle of the painting, focusing on a dog and a chicken, turning art appreciation into a tactile, playful, and shared experience. "Art Dinner" serves as the second act in this evolving dialogue. It begins with Ekici welcoming guests in a traditional Turkish fashion, offering Kolonya ve Lokum (cologne and Turkish delight)—a gesture of hospitality that sets the tone for an evening rooted in cultural fusion and warmth. These embodied actions playfully reference elements of Grimm’s painting and the evening’s menu, drawing attention to food’s role as both subject and medium. Collaborating closely with the chefs and team of the Inclusive Art Café, Ekici curates a three-course menu that reflects a blend of German, Turkish, and French culinary traditions. Each dish is a creative reinterpretation of Grimm’s still life: a Turkish appetizer of Sigara Börek ve Cac?k (cigarette-shaped filo rolls with tzatziki), a main course of Coq au Vin (French chicken in wine), evoking the roosters and wine in the painting, and a dessert named Kalter Hund (“Cold Dog”), a nostalgic German treat that humorously nods to the pug in the original image. Between courses, Ekici performs interactive segments with the guests, featuring fragments of her works related to the painting, such as "Imagine" (2012 - flamenco dance with an apple) and "Crema" (2001 - whipping cream to butter with her hand as a mixer). The final gesture—a communal serving of freshly brewed Turkish tea—underscores Ekici’s vision of togetherness, cross-cultural exchange, and sensory engagement. Captured beautifully by photographer André Leisner, who also contributed an article on the event, the evening celebrates how contemporary performance can activate collections, inspire dialogue, and bring communities together through shared acts of creation. Here also is an article by Leisner: https://photography-leisner.de/leistungen-und-preise/event-veranstaltungsfotografie/veranstaltungsfotograf-beim-art-dinner/ (Text Edited: Jono Wang Chu)

3-course menu (cigarette rolls with tzatziki, Coq au Vin, Kalter Hund ) , perfume and Turkish delight, turkish tee, painting , costume

3 h

Thanks: Kunsthalle St. Annen Lübeck, Direktorin Noua Dirani and Team; Kunstcafé and Team; Felicitas Hommel, Dagmar ; The Cooks: Slobodan-Boban Antonijevic, Mike; Elmas Ekici, Andreas Dammertz and the guests _____Photographer André Leisner; Camera and Editing Josef Rapaj