The kitchen is a space of gathering, a space of living together.
Designing the Kitchen
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The basis of collective belonging in the kitchen is “cityzenship” (living in the same city).
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The basis of learning to live together is the practice of the commons.
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Equality, justice, and freedom are shared aspirations and the basis of solidarity.
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The kitchen is a space of unconditional hospitality.
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The floor table in the kitchen guarantees seating at equal intervals.
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The basis of the floor table is equal participation—in sharing labor, food, and decision making.
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The kitchen is a space of producing ideas that promote life together in the city.
Merve Bedir
Mutfak مطبخ (Kitchen) Workshop was founded in 2015 in Gaziantep, Turkey, by women from Turkey and Syria. The Kitchen works on women’s presence in, their collective production and appropriation of public space. The workshop promotes the idea of the kitchen as a cultural and common space, a space of proximities and collective decision making, and organizes gatherings around these notions of sharing. The participants conduct research and engage in cultural projects grounded in food, the kitchen, labor, and hospitality.
The accompanying illustration imparts the essence of the Matbakh-Mufak women’s collective kitchen.
