In fall of 2021 iii welcomed the first recipient of the ‘iii research residency award’. This residency was awarded to Cemre Kara for her outstanding graduation work at the Royal Art Academy of The Hague.[dis]comfort food is a collaborative project between Cemre Kara and Laila Snevele that was presented over 3 days in October. Visitors were invited to experience dining with new tools developed by the two artists. Four different courses of small appetisers were served along with the performative showcasing of the dining tools.

“Don’t play with your food! is just one of the things your parents might have told you, but we want you to do just that. We want to explore the role of the body in the act of eating; turning your dinner into a playful act. Have you noticed how a slightly bent fork or spoon can distract you from your mindless meal? How disturbing and new it seems at the beginning until you get used to the slight change. We want to recognize the discomfort of learning and find comfort in it. When our movements are free from the table’s limitations, we can observe how the body and mind behave in the act of learning.”