Recently, starting a conversation with someone at the University, I was asked “who are you?”. That question has left me thinking about positionality.
I am a white latin woman, a working-class immigrant in London. The third daughter of a working class parents, the first member of my family to live in Europe, away from them. Out of 20 cousins, only 4 of us decided to attend a University and I am the second one to do a post graduation. I work as an Event Manager in a Museum. After closing hours, the Museum become very much alive, accommodating different kinds of events, and dinner parties are one of them. Usually, dinners are allocated in enclosed space, rooms where guests are greeted by dimmer lights, music, nice atmosphere. In terms of positionality, accessing the Museums of Art were something limited during my school years, in Brazil. We rarely visited Museum or Art Gallery, and we did not have, consistently, Art as a discipline on the curriculum. It is a different approach in England, where children are always visiting those spaces and familiarise themselves since young age with the British art, at least.
What does that mean to have a dinner party in a room where there are many well know art works, the same ones which are used, in that context only as an object of decoration? Likely, aesthetically some venues have more strength to create an pleasant atmosphere than others, to contribute to make an ordinary dinners in a special ones. And what I mean by common would be corporate dinners, business dinners that are repeated every year as part of the company’s agenda. I am intrigued to explore why these guests are not curious about the works of art in the place where they are dining. Only a few of them asked me about the works of art, or made comments about them. Although, they talked about the event as a whole, praised the entire service provided, but rarely mentioned the work of art itself.
I sat on a bench at a bus stop located in front a restaurante called Taste of Chongquing in Bedford Way road. The area is located in the city center of London, a few miles from universities campuses, hospitals, and British Museums. Cars, scooters, ambulances, buses, trucks, bicycles and cabs contribuite to making this road a busy and noisy environment. There are a few Hotels along this road, Royal National Hotel is one of them. I could follow some guests checking in and out for a few minutes. Most of them are families with children, but also some profissionals alone. The area is sourrounded by many facilities such as local shops, restaurants, pharmacy, and foreing exchange. The passersby on the pavement are students, as there are universities around, workers of any kind and tourists.
I am interested in developing a pilot project in Anthropology of Sensitivity as theoretical basis. What makes an ordinary dinner unforgettable? Therefore, I will expplore how our senses perception such as taste (food and drinks), sounds (music), visuals (lighting and dress code), services, locations contribuite to make a ordinary dinner party unforgettable. Some of those might be a collective perception e.g venues, services, others very particular, individual to evaluate such as taste, smells.
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“ The hierarchy of the senses – with seeing at its apex, followed by hearing, and smelling, tasting and touching at its base – these seers and observers proclaimed and enforced, both created and mirrored a social hierarchy as they thought it to be morally right because natural. Their sensory hierarchy connected meaning and employment of particular senses in work, social behaviour and living circumstances to the social status of every person. In reverse, those who counted themselves to be seers would assign to each category of people a certain dominant sense confirm their social position. In this way, women were said to have a natural capacities for smell, taste and touch, which made them inadequate for any intellectual labour that relies on sight and sound for reading and discussion. Their natural tasks were, therefore, perceived to be cleaning, cooking and care-taking (Classen 2005).”
Last week I witnessed an intriguing Gala Dinner at a prestigious Museum in London. The dress code was spectacular, with some men wearing tuxedos or dark suits with bow ties, and women wearing long gowns or cocktail dresses. The fabrics varied greatly, with some silk, chiffon and velvet. For shoes, the men wore clean and shiny black or dark blue/grey leather shoes, like Oxfords, and the women wore high heels. Shiny hair, dazzling jewellery, beautiful watches! Everyone looked as elegant as they could.
The event was divided into three parts, marked by different settings and music. Reception, dinner and after party.
The reception was a showcase in itself. It took place in the Octagon, with its soaring arches and high vaulted ceiling, the magnificent Octagon, in the heart of the neoclassical Duveen Galleries. Currently showing Alvaro Barrington’s homage to the women who shaped him, an exhibition. Guests were greeted with the finest drinks imaginable, Don Perignon Champagne (£328 per bottle), Clos des Porrests Nuits Saint-Georges 1er Cru 2017 red wine (£85 per bottle), Meursault Les Clous 2018 white wine (£60 per bottle) and delicious canapés.
After 45 minutes, all guests were invited to immerse themselves in history, entering the space known as Gallery 9, a beautiful square room with high vaulted ceilings and exceptional British art. Over 130 guests dined surrounded by masterpieces by Martin, Millais, Blake and more, the artwork in this room celebrates themes of romance and evolution, the perfect place for an unforgettable event!
The menu was exceptional, starter – white peach salad, burrata, grilled chilli, mint and pumpkin seeds. Main course – grilled sea trout, slow cooked fennel, fried courgette and salsa verde. Dessert – summer pudding and creme fraiche. Dinner was served with a live soundtrack by a talented string quartet of four women. All impeccably dressed, wearing long blue shinning gowns. Classical music for a quiet dinner. Although the musicians were there, no one seemed to pay much attention to them. The atmosphere was calm and elegant. Halfway through, the awards ceremony began, the musicians made way for a small stage and the award presenter. The vibe changed a bit, the audience became lively and louder. After that, dinner resumed, the main courses were served, followed by desserts, tea and coffee. The guests had not even finished their tea when, surprisingly, the entire hall was transformed into a nightclub! The DJ took up position on the stage, speakers were spread out across the dance floor, from door to door, and the legendary song Let’s Dance by David Bowie opened the dance floor!
Perhaps due to the music being too loud, guests, instead of joining the dance floor, started to leave the Gallery and head towards the Octagon, where an open bar stocked with spirits, beers, and wine awaited everyone.
The after party began.
From a phenomenological perspective, came up many question marks.
I really struggled with the musical genres choices. I wasn’t sure what kind of experience the event planner had in mind to offer the guests. I imagined myself going to a classical music concert and running straight to a fancy Soho nightclub!
The event would be different if had happened in other venue, for example in a saloon in a Jockey Club?
What does mean to have a dinner surrounded by priceless artwork if there is no intention to look at them? Do the guests know about the artworks, the artist’s names? Are they art lovers? Do they often visit Museums?
Do they know the venue’s history, where the dinner took place? Is that important? What were they talking on the table? Were there any comments about the artworks, about the Gallery nine, the Octagon?
I also thought if guests would be interested to know more about the paintings and sculptures displayed in those two venues, in case there were an Art Expert available for them to talk to?
How the contrast between Alvaro Barringon and Millais, for example? The first one born in 1983 in Venezuela to a Haitian father and a Grenadian mother, raised in the Caribbean and New York, and is now based in London; the second one, Millais who was was born in Southampton, the son of John William Millais, a wealthy gentleman from an old Jersey family. His mother’s family were prosperous saddlers. Considered a child prodigy, he came to London in 1838. He was sent to Sass’s Art School, and won a silver medal at the Society of Arts at the age of nine. In 1840 he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools as their youngest ever student, winning a silver medal in 1843 for drawing from the antiqueor.
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