A Performative Dinner: Hearts of Sugar, Fingers Dipped in Honey
Archival family photo courtesy artist Fatemeh Kazemi.
Hearts of Sugar, Fingers Dipped in Honey
A performative dinner by Fatemeh Kazemi in collaboration with the food collective Bazm on the occasion of Kazemi’s participation in the group exhibition The Bride Has Gone to Pick Flowers, curated by Lila Nazemian and with mentorship from Martha Joseph
Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Time: 7:00–10:00 pm
Join us in the gallery for a performative dinner event in honor of artist Fatemeh Kazemi’s participation in The Bride Has Gone to Pick Flowers. The event contemplates the concept of marriage and the myth of the bride—an ever-changing figure shrouded in ritual, desire, and silence. Through food, conversation, and company, the dinner constructs an interface for a sensory, multi-layered, and nonlinear narrative of wedding feasts through the premise of a bride who has left without saying goodbye—and whose departure, like the hierarchies of marriage and the violences nestled within it, is forgotten amidst the sweet haze of familial joy.
The bride, a liminal being suspended between past and future, is often portrayed as an icon of happiness. This symbology, however, often belies feelings of silence, sacrifice, and disappearance. Marriage, wrapped in layers of tradition, can sustain an illusion of safety and celebration for the bride while concealing their quiet endurance when faced with the control embedded in patriarchal legacies that shape both law and ritual in Kazemi’s homeland of Iran, and indeed, throughout the world.
By restaging elements of a traditional Iranian sofreh aghd (wedding spread), dinner guests will consider how rituals evoke the untold stories that have been whispered, tucked beneath pillows, and left unsaid. The feast becomes a shared skin—allowing its participants to have a taste of the depths of the bride’s pleasure and pain. The dinner after the ceremony serves as a beginning and an end, raising many unspoken questions. What happens after the last guest leaves, after the sweets are gone, after the door is closed?
The menu, prepared especially for the evening by Golbarg Jokar of the food collective Bazm and created in collaboration with Kazemi, seeks to recreate personal experiences as well as the historical and cultural nuances of Iran’s many culinary landscapes, and to emphasize the relationship of food to joy, indulgence, festivity—and sometimes, mourning. Together, we will channel the memory and absence of the bride, summoning them in order to better taste, to more closely listen, and to rewrite the sweet myths we have swallowed whole.
The dinner will consist of an intimate five-course meal with drinks included. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free items will be offered.
Capacity is limited and tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis. Please note that due to the communal and food-based nature of this event, guests will be in close proximity.
Fatemeh Kazemi فاطمه کاظمی (she/they, b. 1992, Tehran)—also known as Afimoh—is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose practice spans material fabrication, fiction writing, archiving, filming, curating, organizing, and hosting. Her work engages with themes of communal grief or غم (/gham/), underground economies, kitsch Iranian visual culture, ritual, and subculture. Developed through conversation and community-oriented collaborations, her approach is deeply rooted in collective experiences.
Kazemi earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Tehran (2014) and an MFA in Studio Art from Syracuse University (2024). Her work moves fluidly across worlds, blending installation, lens-based media, and the poetic flow of creative writing. She has exhibited at Parallel Circuit Space (Tehran), SUB Community (Çanakkale), Ruschman Gallery (Chicago), Navel LA (Los Angeles), Smack Mellon (New York), and Bayt Al Mamzar (Dubai). Her experimental films have been screened at the London Short Film Festival, CulturalHub (New York), LUX Book Fair (London), Dresden Film Festival, Everson Museum of Art (Syracuse), and Foundry By Emaar (Dubai), among other venues.
Bazm—a Farsi word that loosely translates to a feast, celebration, or party—is an intimate gathering where music and food come together.
We are a collective of five young Iranian friends united by a shared passion for introducing Iranian culture through food. What started as a way to connect with our roots has grown into a mission to bring the flavors, traditions, and warmth of Iran to New York City and beyond. The meals we host are designed to take guests on a journey through specific regions of Iran, with food as the vessel.
We are not professional chefs, but we cook from the heart. Our goal is to recreate the warmth and joy we felt as children at grandparents’ gatherings—welcoming you into our homes and to our tables with that same spirit.
Beyond the food, we believe in hosting as an art form, deeply rooted in Persian culture. Through our events, we hope you experience a sense of community, a feeling of belonging, and the rich traditions passed down through generations—all through the simple yet powerful act of sharing a meal.
Related Exhibition
To learn more about The Bride Has Gone to Pick Flowers, a group exhibition curated by Lila Nazemian, see here.
