Research Catalogue

About this exposition

When preparing for the dead, may we peep into the future? In the broader geography of the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, we cook our coffee in the briki or cezve. Every region has its own variation, some heat up the water before adding the powder, some add spices, some make it thick, others thinner. And every person has their own variation as well. Coffee is something as personal as communal. Apart from the daily morning and evening consumption, we also share two uses of the coffee that are central of interest here: the coffee cup reading and the tradition of coffee drinking in funerals and memorials. Imagination and memory, future and past, the association with grief; and the unique timelines traced in each cup. I think that it has been with me for years, the memory of my grandmothers, my mother’s morning ritual of cooking a light Greek coffee in a big cup. The familiarity of the Kafenio. And most importantly, community dynamics; sharing others, participating. Here I aspired to create a meeting space with people, artists or not, with whom I have met over the years and share the subtle fascination about this type of coffee and its rituals. Acknowledging the blood, oppression and displacement behind and around the product. The Cafe Imperial.

type	research exposition
keywords	coffee, empire, grief, divination tools, recovery, resistance, transcontinental colonialism, participation
date	08/05/2025
last modified	12/12/2025
status	in progress
share status	public
affiliation	ZHdK
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3641516/3641517

name	IMG_1007
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	souad_IMG_0419
copyright	Unknown
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name	nistiman hoch 10 May 2025
copyright	Nistiman Erdede
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name	milenko_20191116_142653
copyright	Milnko Lazic
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name	milenko_20200906_144150
copyright	Milenko Lazic
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name	milenko_20230223_174135
copyright	Milenko Lazic
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name	milenko_20230910_222431
copyright	Milenko Lazic
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name	milenko_20231202_190418
copyright	Milenko Lazic
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name	eirini_C0070T01
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	eiriniC0071T01
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	eirini_C0085T01
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	eirini_C0081T01
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	eiriniIMG_0774
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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name	imperial misseyiannis
copyright	Eirini Sourgiadaki
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usages	video

name	set1_60x60
copyright	Katerina Sampazioti stanka.design
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name	set2_60x60
copyright	Katerina Sampazioti stanka.design
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name	set3_60x60
copyright	Katerina Sampazioti stanka.design
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name	set4_60x60
copyright	Katerina Sampazioti stanka.design
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name	seba_39
copyright	Seba Kozrani
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name	seba_40
copyright	Seba Kourani
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name	rada_coffee vers1
copyright	Rada Leu
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Café Imperial (last edited: 2025)

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