As part of Irish Design Week 2026
Welcome to the table is a participatory visual project and exhibition exploring belonging, third culture identity and cultural exchange through the lens of food, table settings, and shared meal rituals. You are invited to co-create table environments inspired by different cultures and ways of living, with each table becoming a visual expression of heritage, cultural traditions, rituals as well as contemporary habits.
The project is rooted in the idea that identity is not only shaped by nationality but by lived experience, creativity, migration and memory and that it continues to evolve. Through designed tableware, surfaces, vessels and place settings, audiences are invited to experience different cultures.
From creating centrepieces with natural materials to exploring Tunisian cuisine, our workshops during Irish Design Week 2026 will turn ideas into objects and shared experiences, with the resulting tables and stories displayed at Belfast Central Library and Second Nature.
Join us and develop ideas through making and exchange with contributions from designers, artists, researchers and food practitioners.
What’s on:
Hands-on design and making workshops exploring table settings, objects and natural materials
Conversations about food, culture, creative health and who gathers around the table
Food-focused sessions with Larder East and Carthago including a Tunisian tasting tray
An exhibition of student product design, workshop creations and food stories
Evening showcases for Late Night Art and Design After Dark
Key information and schedule
Thursday 5th November
18.00 onwards - In our Late Night Art Showcase ahead of Irish Design Week 2026, Belfast School of Art’s Foundation (Product Design) students have explored the eating experience through designing tableware in an exercise of reimagining traditional eating tools that enhance the users’ sensory involvement with food
Monday 9th November
Workshop 1: Welcome to the table (meet at The Art Shop at Belfast School of Art)
10.00-12.30 - An introduction with Belfast Design Week’s Christine James & Karishma Kusurkar and The Art Shop’s Celeste Owens. Belfast School of Art lecturers Dr. Pamela Whitaker and Dr. Adriana Ionascu explore who gathers around the table, intention, material objects, food, psychology, creative health and “glimmers.”
12.30-14.00 - A tour of Belfast Central Library - a vital third space in the community full of heritage, design and ideas for gathering
14.00-16.00 - Create a centrepiece for a gathering space using natural materials
Tuesday 10th November
Workshop 2: Make, Eat, Gather (meet at The Art Shop at Belfast School of Art)
10.00-12.30 - Hear from Larder>East’s Alli Steen on the significance of tables and public spaces and design your own gathering space
12.30-14.00 - Discover Tunisian cuisine and culture from Carthago’s owner and head chef Sabeh Sendi and sample a Tunisian tasting tray
14.00-16.00 - Develop a unique cultural space using found objects and repurposed materials
16.00-17.00 - Install your work at Belfast Central Library
Thursday 12th November
18.00 onwards - Design After Dark celebration at Belfast Central Library with full exhibition of work
Accessibility information:
Second Nature - The exhibition space is on the ground floor with easy access through the main entrance. Please beware of building works in the area which may affect pavement access outside.
