The Sensory Meal

“Food, and all that is associated with it, is already larger than life. It is already highly charged with meaning and affect. It is already performative and theatrical. An art of the concrete, food, like performance, is alive, fugitive and sensory.” Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett 1999. Sensory Meal is an immersive/dining/perfomative event, designed and directed by the students and staff of the University of Tasmania Theatre Studies and Interior Design Programs. Kirsty Máté (Interior Design) and Helen Trenos (Theatre) were the Creative Directors. Diners were plunged into a world of tantalising, provocative, extraordinary experiences. Dining as never ‘sensed’ before. The Old Brisbane Arcade was transformed for one night only by the students through installations, lighting and sound design aimed at provoking the diners’ sensory experiences, using the sensory experiences of the early convicts to 'Van Diemens Land'. Diners were directed by the students to be fully immersed in the performance. Food was curated by the students and prepared by TasTAFE culinary students to complement this astonishing sensory world. Commencing in 2010, this is the 7th iteration of the Sensory Meal and the first time it has been offered to the general public.