Moving between culinary decadence, cravings and collective self-enchantment, they explore the transformative power of the capacity for enjoyment through personal food biographies – from East to West, from Blankenburg and Rodewisch via Berlin to Vietnam.
Image gallery
BLEND
What does appetite reveal about history? Which taste memories are sweet, which bitter? And what was actually considered a decadent luxury in the GDR?
In the GDR, indulgence was no harmless pleasure, but a political minefield. In a state that turned leisure into a functional necessity, centrally administered consumption, and labelled non-standardised indulgence as ‘negatively decadent’. What tasted good, what was lacking, what was longed for – all of this was part of a system that sought to control even people’s dreams.
Consumption ‘Made in the GDR’: the shadow economy that arose from control and scarcity. Just like the jeans – a symbol of Western freedom – sewn by Vietnamese contract workers and sold on informal markets, this story too tells of exploitation, external control and contradictory ideals. The GDR’s involvement in the development of the Vietnamese coffee industry reveals post-colonial power dynamics, disguised as socialist solidarity.
Memories of the ‘GDR’s Woodstock’ in 1973, the Neptun Hotel or the MS Arkona speak of a deep longing for freedom within a system that disciplined pleasure – not out of moral zeal, but for its own self-preservation. Staged oases of prosperity were intended to distract from the lack of freedom of movement – illusions of freedom that were never accessible to everyone.
In place of the Palasthotel in Berlin stood the shattered Aquadom – a symbol of the fragile surface of today’s promises of prosperity. Where socialist luxury was once staged amidst conditions of scarcity, neoliberal exclusivity now reigns.
Both systems share a common legacy: luxury as a glittering façade, behind which social inequality persists. The site thus becomes a symbol of the fragile narratives of ‘reunification’ – and of the ongoing conflict between freedom and lack of freedom, as well as equality and inequality.
Against the backdrop of these explorations, BLEND becomes a subversive space where enjoyment is not a product but an attitude: tender, political, defiant. To enjoy means: generosity and hospitality. Listening to one another, feeding one another, caring for one another. It is an act of connection, not of transaction.
In spoken German
On 6 December 26, the production will be offering childcare. Please indicate when booking if you wish to make use of this service.
Following the performance on Sat 28 Nov 26, the Vierte Welt Bar Espresso Martini will be open until 10 pm, playing music from the 90s.
