Late Night Dining
During four weekends in March Huset Under Bron/Trädgården and Verket have joined forces with Absolut to initiate a project dubbed Late Night Dining. Consisting of equal measures of food, art and music, the concept is something quite new for Stockholm. They offer a set menu, late on Fridays and Saturdays, made by guest chefs and to the sounds of various acts in a venue decorated by art from carefully chosen artists.
We spoke to New Zealand-born Swede Ruth Anna Eriksson, who is curating the art side of things.
Tell us more about the upcoming project.
We wanted to offer a different experience when it comes to dining by including art and music as well as excellent chefs and bartenders, and serving food after 11pm which as you know isn’t very common in Stockholm.
The aim is to offer an intimate experience, almost like being invited to a private dinner at someone’s home, but being served by professionals – and you can leave the dishes without any bad conscience. The food will be vegetarian, cooked by different chefs each weekend and during the evening live music will be performed by artists curated by Babak Azarmi (RMH).
Each room at Verket is formed by the participating artists and the artwork is also inspiring the musicians, the chefs, the food and vice versa. And hopefully the guests, too.
Verket is situated in a parallel building to Under Bron, which means that you also have the possibility to go dancing after your meal and enjoy listening to great music.
How did you choose the artists taking part?
I have chosen artists that I believe in, that I have followed over a longer period of time. I also wanted them to complement each other and to give each room a special atmosphere. The participating artists are Beatrice Orlandi, Disa Braunerhielm, Michelle Claesson Eismann and Moley Talhaoui.
How come you decided to integrate art in the project?
Verket opened in March 2014 and has been a space created for exhibitions since the beginning. We have previously shown exhibitions with Leif Elggren, Klara Källström and Thobias Fäldt, as well as Nadine Byrne. Art was always being integrated in the projects at Verket, this is a continuation, including other elements and also opening up for a new kind of audience.
How did you end up working with art?
I have always been interested in aesthetics and I believe I always will be. It hasn’t really been a straight line, you have to find out what you want to do, be dedicated, do your homework and then work, work and work a bit more, without losing your passion.
What other projects are you working on at the moment?
I just started working at Wetterling Gallery and we are planning the upcoming exhibition with the international artist Jan Fabre in April – don’t miss it.
Will we see a continuation of the Late Night Dining concept into April and May?
In April there are two exhibitions planned at Verket and from May onwards, in connection with Trädgården opening, we will present a continuation, inspired by Late Night Dining, with late night dinners made by Växthuset.
The last dates of the initial Late Night Dining Series are March 20-21 and March 27-28.
