The Home is in the Heart. The House. The Kitchen.
The Kitchen. is the second installment of my experimental music, sound and technology-based performative and interactive pieces, reflecting on his personal immigrant history.
The Kitchen focuses on exploring special food making as remembered in my grandmother Darina’s house, a place of rich family history that was recently sold. During my childhood visits, she would prepare savory and sweet dishes. One that he vividly recollects is Rezance s makom a orechami (Noodles with poppy seeds and nuts). My siblings and I were asked to participate in the creation of the dish, grinding the nuts and poppy seeds while Darina hand-crafted the noodles.
Every movement of the hand mustering the dough, every knife cut, every boiling bubble, every grind and every buttery bite is a penetrating memory. Participate in sharing childhood food memories through a night of art, sonic, technologic and culinary experimentation. I play the piano, sing my new arrangements of Slovakian folk songs and even perform with the boiling water!
My grandmother asked that we create her recipe together, will you join me?
Watch The Home is in the Heart. The House. The Gates (Miami Light Project) here:
https://kojs.net/portfolio/house-gates/
https://youtu.be/CBPZ_ch35CY?si=IOWCGmvk0oI46ary
Photo and video docu: Mariana Kojšová
- Year composed: 2023
- Instrumentation: voice, piano, boiling water, dough and video
- Duration (performance): ca. 1 hour
- With the support from the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, American Czech-Slovak Cultural Club and FETA Foundation.
In Press
About The Gates: Miami New Times
“The Home is in the Heart: The House, was pure poetry on the nature of immigration, family and home.” (MiamiArtZine on The Gates)
Performance History
- December 15 and 16, 2023: American Czech-Slovak Cultural Club.
From the Work
Photos: Mariana Kojšová.
