When artist and author Charlotte Birnbaum joins forces with renowned glass designer Erika Lagerbielke, the result is Måltidens teater – glas för alla sinnen, an exhibition that turns the meal itself into a multisensory performance. United by a shared fascination for food as art, the two explore the table as a stage for creativity, craftsmanship, and conversation.
Ulrika Lindqvist: Could you tell us a bit about how the idea for this collaboration came about?
Charlotte Birnbaum & Erika Lagerbielke: We have meet through our work in the organizations The Swedish Academy of Meal science and the Swedish Academy of Gastronomy. We have found that we share a passion for meals as an expression of culture and art, and that we shared an interest exploring these events through our artistic work.
UL: Charlotte, how would you say the process of working on this collection and exhibition differs from your work as an author and artist?
CH: It has been a wonderful experience for me to work in dialog with an important artist who really has a much deeper understanding of the world of glass than me. I am more of an assemblage artist who selects already existing components. I work with glass objects as readymades. But I think that we share a certain esthetic sensibility, in spite of our very different approaches. We have collaborated on the display of our works, so the exhibition itself really is a collaborative effort. It’s the first time I try something like this, but hopefully not the last.
UL: What were the biggest challenges you faced during this project?
EL: I gave myself the challenge to find a new expression for “living glass”. I wanted to capture
light and a way to express flow. It took some experimenting in close cooperation with the skilled glass blowers at Kosta glassworks before we finally were successful in developing a new method that worked. I have used the new technique in the series Wild Optics, which will be shown for the first time in our exhibition at Galleri Glas.
UL: Charlotte, in your opinion, what are the most important elements of a well-set table?
CB: I have always viewed the table as a kind of exhibition format. That is what I have written about since many years. I edit a book series called On the Table. These publications explore interesting encounters between art and food. Most of my examples are historical. I have written about baroque napkin folding and about the art of the banquet at renaissance courts. These are of course quite extravagant examples but in fact every set table is an exhibition. In that sense most of us are curators.
UL: How did your approach to this collection differ from how you usually work on your other projects? Could you walk us through the process of creating the collection?
EL: The biggest difference is that we are two artists working together when creating the exhibition. Having had the good fortune to work with such an interesting and accomplished artist as Charlotte has added a lot of inspiration to my work. We had several creative conversations, also over enjoyable meals, where we developed the concept, “Måltidens teater – glas för alla sinnen”, as well as our key words and a colour scheme. Since we use completely different techniques creating our artwork, we then continued our own. We have continuously supported each other in the creative processes and kept each other informed regarding successes and obstacles. It has been very smooth.
text Ulrika Lindqvist
