with Lerato Shelekisko.
2021 on the streets of Vienna. Durational performance.

Hummus in Arabic means ‘chickpea.’ Although hummus has been present since the 13th century, its actual origin is unknown. Hummus is said to be one of the oldest known cooked dishes in several folklore tales. Walking around the streets of Jerusalem, one might come across typical Israeli or typical Palestinian hummus.

Humus in Latin means ‘soil’.
The cultural claim about the origins and belonging of hummus is a metaphor for what is happening to that disputed land. A frenetic competition to discover who arrived first. Whereas all this is a non-existent castle of words. The authenticity of good olive oil and soft chickpeas is divided by two different adjectives that split one land, influencing the entire food and agricultural industry of the land.

In this performance, the artists sell a fictitious brand of hummus. Viewers are invited to taste two “different sorts”. The main intention of the performance is to get the audience to ask: “what is the difference?”.

The audience will question something that is often disregarded on a daily basis, namely the usage of words, through a direct encounter with their senses. This performance bring the passerby to reflect on how people are (mis) using those lines on the map and highlight the intangible factors of conflicts.