In December of last year, I participated in a group exhibition, Concept OK: Art in Oklahoma. I was chosen as a Focus artist, and as such, got the opportunity to create a new work for the show. Breaking Bread was supposed to be an examination of the relationship between natives and non-natives in the state of OK and a strategy for engagement. The title refers to the act of eating as ritual of communication with others. Both our common heritage and the challenges of today’s reality demand serious consideration and sharing a meal seemed an excellent way to begin.

The elements are simple: a table constructed from local Eastern Red Cedar and hand-engraved with various maps of Oklahoma. From tribal jurisdictions to congressional districts to major waterways, these maps are layered so that social and political boundaries become muddied. Throughout the performance, volunteers and I served both traditional and “traditional” native foods for the crowd. The food is a powerful symbol of a complicated history and it stained the table over the course of the evening with the remnants of our ritual.

I invited some old friends of mine who are Indian and attuned to the art world to participate. Our discussions as a small group were supposed to kick-start a public conversation. The idea was to leave it as free-form as possible to dissuade preconceptions and let honesty do its thing. The real experience of the native community is very much hidden and too many white Oklahomans operate under the influence of pervasive stereotypes and destructive ignorance. I just assumed the opportunity to break bread with our neighbors would be a powerful tool for transcending this dialectic. The issues are rife with tension and potential conflict but the aim was not to offer concrete solutions. Rather, I wanted to involve as many people as possible in identifying the problems.

It was a disaster.

Everyone was confused as to what I was trying to do, the art center tried to bar my volunteers from entering a black-tie reception, people generally treated it simultaneously as a buffet and a soapbox for their own opinions on what Indians should do to improve their situation. In short, there was no eye-opening dialog, there was no space for a mutual respect or reconciliation, no earth-shattering revelations. We did NOT sing Kumbaya.

I did a lot of thinking when it was over. How did it go so wrong? What could I have done differently? After talking with my collaborators, the consensus was that expecting a public gathering with no structure to produce a meaningful conversation is ridiculous. It is an action doomed to fail from the start. However, it made me re-evaluate the goal of the project and what it was all about in the first place: communication. In order to facilitate a real dialog, we should have had a nice, intimate dinner party. Let four friends get together to cook and discuss in peace, then give that conversation to the public to let them digest it in a less chaotic environment.

And that’s where the project goes from here.

We captured the performance on tape: the disappointment, the chaos, the stress. We interviewed the participants and found out what they thought about the project and the performance. We edited it into half a film. Now we are in the process of finishing it. I’m putting on the dinner party that should have happened from the start I want to have the conversation, warts and all. I want to show the state that positive dialog can triumph, understanding can come from chaos, and art can be successful (perhaps even superior) as activism.

The finished film will be screened all over the state, for schools, communities, colleges… Central to the project’s success is its relational property. Though the work is meant to be pseudo-educational, it is also still collaborative. I want to hear from you in the Participate Section. Let me know what your thoughts on the project are, your experiences in Oklahoma, your encounters with racism and ignorance or compassion and empathy.

Thanks for your help and support. Stay tuned for more info and screening dates!