on hosting
Mi casa es tu casa! A Spanish expression of welcome originating from Mexico. Who decides who is welcome and who is not; and what behaviour is acceptable? What does hospitality mean in a world where people interact and move spaces at ever faster speeds - online and offline?
At The Couch we are interested in exploring how hospitality can be used as a tool to reflect on power relations and ultimately alter them.
To come to grips with practices of hospitality and the roles of hosts and guests, we invite different writers to contribute their ideas in a Hosting column. Each column is written by a guest: a person or collective, describing an experience of hosting. They write from a different fictionalised or real persona, ranging from the body to the community kitchen.
column
The Guest at Work
Twice a day you walk up a mountain to connect to the internet, check your matches on Hinge, and text the girl you like from your language class back in the country you live.
column
and then we danced, on hosting ghosts and ghosting
In my dance, I host ghosts, their multi-headed presence, their sounding breath coming out of their numerous mouths. I befriend the strange, and the otherness becomes my condition.
essay
Hospitality on demand
Can the concept of hospitality provide us with a critical lens to explore what kind of relationships socially engaged art institutions can build online ?