Oreet Ashery and Larissa Sansour undertook a month long residency at Toynbee Studios February 2010, supported by Artsadmin and the Live Art Development Agency.
The residency was inspired by Orientalism, chapter six of Oreet and Larissa’s experimental graphic book The Novel of Nonel and Vovel, in which Falafel is used as a contested national symbol of the Near East along with its diasporic manifestations. Falafel Road comprised twenty publicly engaged meals and happenings in various falafel eateries in London, from restaurants to supermarkets and market stalls.
The meals were held at various eateries in London, including supermarkets and market stalls. The public, and specially invited guests, joined Oreet and Larissa every day during the residency for a falafel experience. Twenty meals were filmed by different artists. The idea to film the meals was inspired by Gordon Matta Clark’s restaurant movie from 1970s – ‘The SoHo restaurant co-op’ . Matta-Clark co-founded in 1971 a restaurant with friends who cooked there every day, the place served as a social meeting place for fellow artists, friends and by passers.
