Unwritten Recipes x Public Secrets

This is a collaborative space created by bringing two participatory projects together into a three-step journey.

Unwritten Recipes grew out of community dinners and workshops with migrants in Tilburg Noord. We brought tastes from different cultures together to create new fusion dishes. Through zines, miniature food objects, and a menu, the project looks at how food, memory, and new combinations help us find belonging.

Public Secrets (by Vloeistof) grew out of collective gathering sessions with residents in Tilburg’s neighborhood. We brought hidden, unsaid stories together and sewed them anonymously onto a community blanket. The project looks at how shared vulnerabilities help us find connection through fabric notes.

Sharing a dish, a memory, or a secret shares the same gesture: opening up a private space to someone else. Food brings us around a table, opens up conversations, and creates a sense of safety. Once that trust is established, it becomes easier to talk about the things we usually hold inside. Moving through this installation is a journey from the tangible flavors we carry to the unspoken feelings we leave behind.

• Where do you come from?

An invitation to trace back your own food roots and memories through the materials created during our community dinner.

• What do you carry with you?

There are conversation cards around the space. They start with everyday questions about food, but touch on what we carry inside.

• What do you leave behind?

This is the Public Secrets community blanket with anonymous notes from strangers. Feel free to write or sew what you carry onto it if you’d like.