Come Eat With Me is a 110-minute performance piece by Sri Vamsi Matta which explores the relationship between caste and food, and culminates in sharing a meal together. Focusing on Dalit relationships to food, the piece begins with personal stories and oral histories around food in Vamsi’s household and community and is peppered with existing literature and academic writing around the multilayered, multi-flavored nuances between caste and food. The piece unpacks questions of oppression and solidarity, grief and joy, and the everyday victories of the human spirit in the face of structural injustices.
Taking place on the last night of the Annual Conference on South Asia (Saturday, October 21), this gathering invites conference attendees and Madison’s community to Sultan, Madison’s first modern Pakistani cuisine restaurant to eat together and share stories around caste and food. In doing so, the form subverts an activity laden with caste hierarchies and hopes to create a space for community building.
Tickets cost $20 each. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 6:15 p.m.
The Annual Conference on South Asia (October 18–21) invites scholars, students, and professionals to Madison, Wisconsin, for a three-day event featuring research panels and round tables, lectures, performances, film screenings, booksellers, association receptions, and other special presentations! The conference has grown year-by-year since its inception in 1971, welcoming over 1100 registered attendees in 2019. This year’s conference will take place at The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor’s Club (1 West Dayton Street).