Varia Afhaal are thematic gatherings based around the common experiences, everyday technologies and home economics of food preparation. With Varia Afhaal we create a context in which we can collectively develop a deeper understanding of sometimes abstract socio-economic and political topics by learning with and from each other through discussions, sketching, research, cooking and eating.

In the first session in this series, Chip Shortage or Chips on Demand, we explored old vs new technologies, scarcity, supply chains and planned obsolescence while experimenting with a variety of ingredients to make and enjoy chips. The discussions and collective cooking/eating sessions was partially streamed using Varia's own radio streaming infrastructure.

Chip Shortage or Chips on Demand was accompanied by the ongoing Open Sauce events, where participants combine the contents of open bottles of sauce to make new, delicious, unoriginal condiments.

In the second session, Stock Exchange, we brought up conversations on exchange value, extraction, commodities, economics, self-sufficiency and survival, while exploring the possibilities around making, sharing and storing stock.

Varia Afhaal is organised together with Alice Strete and Simon Browne.
This project is supported by the Creative Industries Fund NL.