Familiar Strangers are individuals that we regularly observe but do not interact with.  By definition a Familiar Stranger (1) must be observed, (2) repeatedly, and (3) without any interaction. The claim is that the relationship we have with these Familiar Strangers is indeed a real relationship in which both parties agree to mutually ignore each other



Dinner with Familiar Strangers


Activation: 23.02.2025 19-22h


The Familiar Stranger exists in the in-between—neither a stranger nor a friend, but something of both, carried by the regularity of their own movements. This spatial and temporal rhythm creates a unique form of social choreography, where the repetition of encounters becomes an unspoken language. They are there, always, in the background of our daily lives, giving structure to the city, providing comfort in their consistency. These relationships we have, momentary yet constant, are the subtle architecture of our shared spaces.

What happens when this invisible thread is snapped? When the delicate balance of familiarity is disrupted? In an act of defiance, I wanted to break the cycle, evolve the relationship, to pull the familiar strangers from their anonymity and into a shared space.

I invited 15 of my familiar strangers to have dinner with me.

These people included the guys who work at my local fruit shop, 24-hour supermarket, phone shop, customers from the cafe I work at, people I always cross on the street, neighbours.

By calling attention to them through the act of cooking and sharing a meal with these people, I hoped to elevate the unnoticed, giving credit to the unsung connections that form the pulse of our daily lives, reshaping our understanding of what it means to belong in a city, and ultimately, to one another.



see the piece presented here
2345—45/42 LISUM