In addition to being a white cube contemporary arts exhibition space, over the years our 4/F Tomorrow Maybe gallery has served as a space for workshop, music, performance art, talks, and prior to being bestowed the name ‘Tomorrow Maybe,’ in fact operated as a kitchen that served a 4/F restaurant. This rich history of the space perhaps oddly made it the perfect area to host a conceptual experience combining dining and performance.

Alison Tan, also known as Sapphire Ketchup, is a Hong Kong-based multidisciplinary food designer and “experimental feeder” who has been hosting avant-garde pop-up dining experiences in Hong Kong in the last few years, including her cinema-inspired series. Having just worked together with Young Boy Dancing Group from Switzerland last month to host an interactive dining performance at Tomorrow Maybe, we picked her brain to learn more about her process as a food designer.

What about food as a medium do you feel you can't express with other art forms?

The artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres said that there’s something incredibly intimate about making art that someone else puts inside them. I think both parties are actually quite vulnerable; the feeder is making a bid for connection through the food, and the recipient must trust them in order to accept it.

What was your role in this YBDG dining experience - how did the collab come about?

I created a menu in dialogue with YBDG’s performance, adding another sensory layer to the shifting energies of the night. Eaton’s Joseph Chen and Stephanie Chik reached out after seeing some of my previous dining experiences. I hope they thought, “This one won’t shy away from anything!”

What was your process of coming up with the menu?

YBDG’s performance contains tension, pain, sensuality, discomfort, and above all a deep sense of connection between the performers. It turns expectations of a dinner on its head, so I wanted the menu to do the same.

What was the most challeng thing about this collaboration, and the most rewarding thing?

The most challenging and rewarding part of any collaboration is working with people with different contexts, priorities, and preferences than you—and creating something that everyone can be proud of. It’s an experience I will never forget.

Photos by @tze.long & @ifathenb