Am Tisch, translated to English as At the Table, is a project that traces the family table as a central place of negotiation. Spazju Kreattiv caught up with BIANCA KÜNZEL, AMY FREGA, MATS JOHAN LEENDERS, and ALEXANDER STEINDORF, who are part of the exhibition in Malta

SK: Bianca, Amy and Mats, what does family mean to you?

BK: It is the smallest unit of society and a highly complex entity, connected with many emotions, expectations, rules and conventions. It is a form of belonging. Family does not necessarily have to be genetic.

AF: True connection, unconditional love and support, and a feeling of belonging. If I have this kind of connection with someone I feel like they automatically become part of my family. Of course, it is a plus if you have this connection with the family you are born into. Then you can share this connection as well as a long history of life memo­ries together.

MJL: Your family is your origin, your roots and the reason for you being who you are ‒ either because of imitation or deliberately doing things differently than your parents. It is the people that shaped you (for better or worse), and most of the time the place where you learned social rules and interactions.

SK: Bianca, Mats, is the family table in your family the centre of conflict?

BK: Actually, in my family, conflicts are less likely to be fought out at the dinner table. Maybe that’s because I have to move around to think clearly.

MJL: It very much was. We tried to eat all meals together as much as possible and also played games, discussed, argued and worked at the fami­ly table. And as you can see in my video, tribunals were also held there.

SK: Amy, what inspired you to choose the focus of your short film/performance?

AF: My current situation. Sitting alone on my “family table’’. I wanted to tell the story of how I got here.

What do we not talk about at family celebrations in order not to disturb the peace in the family?

SK: Your films are part of At the Table as one umbrella. What was the inspiration for this project?

BK: We had already dealt with the topic of family beforehand and developed a play at the National Theatre Weimar, which was mainly about different political attitudes within a family. At The Table is a logical development for us, which we want to make internationally accessible through the medium of film.

AS: As Bianca said, the inspiration for the project deve­loped from a previous project called Family Feast. It was about staging a play with the question: What do we not talk about at family celebrations in order not to disturb the peace in the family? It dealt with questions of civil courage, right-wing radicalism, socialism, personal injuries and disappointments.

The centre of the production at that time was an oversized table. And when we thought about it again at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme: family at the table, international, cross-cultural and in special situations as a worldwide unifying element or catalytic object was very quickly obvious.

SK: Alex, how would you imagine the future of the project?

AS: I would imagine the future in that it will be continuously expanded over many years with new artists from all over the world. That one can recognise the unifying element through everyday and extraordinary incidents around a family table all over the world, but also get to know the small or big differences in personal stories.

At the Table is open until Sunday, May 28, at Spazju Kreattiv, Castille Place, Valletta. More information on kreattivita.org.