Vlada Predelina (1991) is an artist based in Rotterdam. Her work looks into the meaning of a sense of place through a range of media including food, natural dyes, bioplastics and ceramics. She creates gatherings around a particular medium as a focus to bring out intimate discussions and situated histories. Currently she is researching the role of tacit knowledge systems of women as a sustaining force in relation to land and colonial expansion. Since 2020 she has been working as part of Eathouse, an artist collective with Jake Caleb, Merve Kılıçer, Ulufer Çelik exploring the potential of food as an artistic method where the culinary informs the social.
take from the table, bring to the table @ Refractions, BAK, basis voor actuele kunst (2023) - Installation with activations, wheat dough, digital projection The work invites the viewer to look at pelmeni, a specific type of dumpling and national dish of Russia, through multiple lenses. From pelmeni as sustenance of the nomadic people of the Ural region; to conquerors consuming pelmeni and regional culture whilst expanding maps of Imperial Russia; and then from the perspective of personal memories in the privacy of a domestic kitchen. It is a recipe preserved and passed on from generation to generation, from hands to hands and from East to West. Inspired by Anja Novak's essay 'Dishing Up Colonialism', the work intends to connect cartography and cuisine in an edible installation. The research is situated in the Ural mountains, the birthplace of the artist and its presentation consists of two activation moments: 'Taking from the table' - a systematic act of cutting of the dough as landscape divided and conquered, presented in a lecture performance for a wide audience. This activation looks at the colonial history of, and impacts on the Ural region. The cutting of the dough landscape acts as a metaphor for the loss of land, ways of being and cultures that have lived here, juxtaposed with the land uses of today. 'Bringing to the table' - a collective, conversational cooking session with invited guests focused on intimacy and listening. This activation is a guided conversation around the table where the invited guests bring personal stories connected to the context of Russian colonialism whilst making edible sculptures. Shown at BAK, basis for contemporary art, Utrecht as part of Refractions co-curated with Katia Krupennikova.
take from the table, bring to the table - activation 2 detail
Pelmeni: A Cooking Conversation @ WEST Den Haag (2022) - This is part of a longer-term project that looks into the origins of pelmeni from the semi-nomadic Uralic hunters' sustenance to their present status as a national dish of Russia. The name originates from the Udmurt language: pel' nyan' meaning 'ear bread'. Using them as a listening tool, we opened up discussions about unwritten histories, knowledges and their meaning in the current context.
Part of public programme of 'Bottleneck' exhibition by Katerina Sidorova, WEST Den Haag, The Hague. Curated by Yannik Güldner. Image credit: Dana La Monda / West The Hague
Eathouse SESSIONS @ Kunstinstituut Melly (2021 – 2022) - Sessions were a series of events curated in partnership between Eathouse collective and Kunstinstituut Melly. With these events we opened up discussions about land, sense of place, care and gathering around food with the aim of creating a space where these ongoing dialogues can happen. Each session focused on specific recipes, ingredients, and methods of cooking and preservation.
Pelmeni: A Conversation Cookbook (2021-2022) - 'Pelmeni: A Conversation Cookbook' presents the starting point of an investigation into the histories of pelmeni, a type of dumpling originating from nomadic peoples of the Ural mountains. Over a course of four small pelmeni-making sessions with women from different backgrounds, I collected oral histories of language, food and practices of home in 2021. This is part of a longer-term project that looks into the origins of pelmeni from hunters' sustenance to their present status as a national dish of Russia. Alongside looking into this history of assimilation through the expansion of the Russian Empire, I also seek to set down minor histories: stories of day-to-day life for women who have moved to the Netherlands from elsewhere. The collaborative making of pelmeni—literally translated from Udmurti as ear-bread—foregrounds cooking together as a time for listening. The workshops took place in Rotterdam and Utrecht, in the autumn of 2021 in English, Dutch and Russian languages. The book is available for sale in PrintRoom, KIOSK and Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam. This project is supported by Stichting Droom en Daad. RISO Printed with PrintRoom. Publication launched at LIFE, Rotterdam with generous help of Ash Kilmartin.
Eathouse (2020 – ongoing) - Eathouse is an artist cooking collective set up in 2020 by Ulufer Çelik, Merve Kılıçer, Vlada Predelina, and Jake Caleb. In their practice they explore the potential of food as an artistic method. We do this to instigate dialogue on ways that the culinary informs the social. We have hosted public events, kitchen takeovers, fundraisers and online broadcasts. In addition we invite other artists engaging with food to share their research with a wider audience. We are based in Rotterdam, NL. For the 2020 summer season, Eathouse hosted the restaurant at Paviljoen aan het Water. In Summer Season 2021 Eathouse Collective were running LIVE FEED: a set of 4 broadcasted events where we took a look at specific dishes we cook, and opened up discussions about their histories to find out what draws us to them and how we gather and form a community around them. In late 2021 and early 2022 we hosted SESSIONS at Kunstinstituut Melly. In Summer Season 2022 we took a residency at Lemon House during dOCUMENTA15 and cooked at PAKGHOR kitchen by Britto Arts Trust. In 2023 we created a series of conversational dinners called 'Tongue Twisting Dinners' where we explored ways of initiating critical dialogue around contemporary urgencies. These took place in 'an other world' project space in Rotterdam.
Colours of Wielewaal @ Growing Space (2020) - An exploration of feeling more connected to the land and our surroundings as a way to feel more at home by using natural dyes gathered in and around the Wielewaal neighbourhood. The installation served its purpose as an invitation to the open air natural dye workshop, aimed at the local residents and neighbours.
A natural dye workshop took place as part of the exhibition. The colours were cooked in situ in two enormous pans from walnuts gathered at a local lake and food scraps that came from a local table.
The project was exhibited at Growing Space, Rotterdam with help from Carmen José and local neighbours. Supported by CBK Rotterdam, NAC Foundation, Charlois Speciaal and Groot Rotterdams Atelier Weekend.
3 O’Clock @ Leave of Absence Gallery, London (2019) - 3 O'Clock is an attempt to record and bring light to my old home and the first half of my life in Ekaterinburg, Russia. It seeks to combine the feeling of home, geographical location and domestic work that is required in order for the feeling to exist. I went back to Ekaterinburg and filmed my grandmother making her infamous borsch from her Ukrainian roots, it is a step-by-step recipe. Food comes up a lot during conversations about home, the film really focuses on the taste of home. The washing line is a very domestic feature; it simultaneously symbolizes housework and home. The filmed recipe was projected onto a sheet, while the cooking pot was placed on a pedestal. Shown at Leave of Absence Gallery, London, co-curated by Yu'an Huang
Pelmeni / Meet the Grandparents @ Roodkapje (2019) - An invitation to share a personal moment of dumpling making at the grandparents' apartment. After not seeing them for a long period of time and discovering their figures on Google maps outside of their house, there was an urge to recreate the experience, this home feeling away from home. Food is a subject that comes up a lot when talking about the specifics of home, whether it's grandma's best meal or just local food we are used to from an early age. The taste of home is irreplaceable, sharing recipes from generation to generation, keeping it going. Pelmeni are a staple, a fast food, a daily food, a special celebration food, but with this specific memory and being able to pin down one geographical location, it is *the* pelmeni. Workshop part of the public program of HCA Roodkapje residency.
SHOWROOM @ Roodkapje (2019) - Showroom is a solo exhibition as part of the HCA Residency at Roodkapje, Rotterdam. It is an installation in situ in a location known as the Schieblock which is full of young creatives. It is situated next to a small and important community garden, called Vredestuin. As a newcomer to the city, the feeling of being uprooted brought a need for a reflection on the location and its immediate surroundings. I could sense parallels with the housing situation in London where I lived previously, as this entire area is planned to be redeveloped and will be replaced by luxury apartments. The installation itself is a showroom apartment, but instead of the immaculate turn-key finish, it is a display and a celebration of all the elements of domestic life, community and the local. I used the showroom as a framework for on-going research into the meaning of home. Ceramic shapes and embroidery depict areas that represent the feeling of home through daily routes, routines and other important rituals that were explored in an earlier guided conversational workshop. These were created using a table with digital maps on which shapes and sculptures were created to represent these routines. Exhibition visitors are invited to look through the window and encounter a view onto the ceramic city-scape made up of the geographical elements arranged into a more abstract idea of a city completely full of meaningful interactions. Shown at Roodkapje, Rotterdam. Co-curated with Joannette van der Veer. The exhibition finished with a vegan caviar dinner in collaboration with Roodkapje chef Paul Mullenberg.
