A MEAL WITH WORDS

2026 IMPACT Festival

In this durational one to one performance, audience is invited to join the preparation of a meal with the performer. At the entrance, each participant receives an instruction card that asks, “Have you ever held something unbearable—personal or political?”

Through a sequence of intimate gestures at the table, including writing, serving, and consuming, the performance unfolds as a ritualized recipe that transforms difficult memories into shared, embodied experience. It creates a space where vulnerability is held collectively, and where acts of care emerge through proximity, touch, and participation.

Audience is guided through a set of instructions presented as a recipe, and is invited to write down something unbearable from their own life. The performer then consumes these written traces by licking the plate, followed by a moment of shared stillness in which they hold hands and engage in a brief breathing exercise. At the end of the encounter, the eater offers an edible sheet printed with “Thank you” and “谢谢” (Thank you in Chinese) in edible ink.