Dramas of Homemaking and Hospitality in ATSA's Cuisine ta ville

Experiences of the liminal spaces of 'arriving' and the structures of hospitality that frame refugee–host relations were at the heart of Cuisine ta ville (French for Cook Your City), the relational performance project of Montreal-based performance and activist group ATSA (When Art Takes Action), which took place in downtown Montreal as part of the celebrations for the city's 375th anniversary in May 2017. Cuisine ta ville temporarily transformed the Place des arts esplanade into a reimagined 'refugee camp,' inviting Montreal refugees and other Montrealers into intimate encounters organized around the sharing of soup and conversation. Refugees and their friends hosted other Montrealers in theatricalized 'soup kitchens,' and strangers were invited by 'maîtres d'hôtel' to have an exchange about the question, "How do you define the concept of home?" This article interprets the urban dramas of homemaking and hospitality that were staged in Cuisine ta ville alongside the situation of refugees in contemporary Quebec.