Ce n’est pas un Repas is an immersive dining performance that merges culinary art, ritual, and social interaction into a transformative collective experience.
Created by Martin Butler in collaboration with Radost House, Belgrade Serbia and curated by Jelena Miskovic, the project challenges the traditional concept of a meal by turning dinner into a choreographed journey of perception, intimacy and participation. Blending elements of performance art, social sculpture and experimental gastronomy, Ce n’est pas un Repas reimagines the dining table as a site of human encounter.
It invites participants to slow down, heighten awareness, and rediscover the act of eating as a poetic and communal ritual. It is an invitation to explore how we relate—to food, to ourselves, and to each other.
Guided by a host, guests move through a sequence of performative courses that explore themes of connection, trust, vulnerability, play and community.
Each course engages one or more senses and invites the audience to interact not only with food, but with one another. Through ritual actions, simple performative tasks, and sensory challenges, participants gradually shift from passive diners into active co-creators of the experience.
The menu functions as a dramaturgical structure:
Light – Cleansing Rite: a ritual of purification and preparation shared between partners.
Reflection -The Mirror: diners eat in mirrored synchronisation, exploring empathy and connection.
Reversal – Mind Twist: eating with the non-dominant hand disrupts habit and expands awareness.
Ce n’est pas un repas – Subversion: a playful course that questions perception and expectation.
Trust – Blind Journey: with eyes covered, guests surrender to sensory exploration.
Danger – Risk and Precision: food becomes a metaphor for uncertainty and courage.
Community – Shared Creation: dessert is collectively negotiated, requiring collaboration.
Celebration – Closure: the evening ends in a shared celebration of experience and togetherness.
Hosted by Radost Fina Kuhinjica,
Beograd
Serbia
June 2024
Created by Martin Butler and I-Chen Zuffellato
Food Design by Aleksandra Macek
Wines by Aleksandar Zeremski
Curated by Jelena Miskovic
PRESS
https://zena.blic.rs/kolumna/tamara-ognjevic-o-hrani-i-umetnosti/pxbefc3
https://www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs/being-an-artist-is-a-job-like-any-other
Martin Butler 