Breadline during Louisville Flood

Bread, eventually for the majority of humans, grew to be and has remained a profoundly significant symbol, an honored and sacred substance. Those people will still recall that ‘breaking bread’ and sharing it with companions implies friendship itself, likewise trust, joy and gratitude. In its partaking, bread can form the genuine bond that connects them. People often expect to have bread on hand at every meal, as background, as completion, as a reliable source of comfort, and as a recompense for disappointment or incompleteness the rest of the meal would do.

The Latin word companion means “a person with whom we share bread,” derived from the Late Latin companionem, literally “bread fellow,” with com meaning “with, together” and panis meaning “bread”—pa “to feed.” Food has long been a relaxation ritual, a ‘break’ in the working day, and an opportunity to choose companions and ‘talk’ to them. This act of sharing food reflects a fundamental aspect of human connection and mirrors the concept of communitas as articulated by cultural anthropologist Victor Turner.

Communitas is a significant term for Turner’s concept of an experience common to the ‘liminal state’. It means, in short, the kind of social relationship that focuses on the equality of people and their common statuses. It exists when conversations are true and spontaneous. For instance, it is the sort of experience that occurs in New York City when the lights go out. It is what happens when a catastrophe comes along, when all of a sudden status no longer counts, just human beings in it together, all on an equal footing. It is very warm and direct. For Turner, communitas is really the glue of the social world; without it, we can hang it all up.

This intervention is proposed to represent the communitas on a one-day ritual journey. A group of eight participants will pass through a few transitions, both intellectual and spatial. All stages of their journeys are represented by spaces that differ in size, height, amount of light, furnishings, tools, and functions. The architectural ruin is employed to inform the communal making of a loaf of bread, aiming for participants to embody the essence of companionship and equality.

Located between the Centrum Zuid industrial area and the Hasselt-Mol railway, at the foot of the former mine pit of Houthalen, the large 700-meter-long Laambroekvijvers pond was originally intended as part of the Albert Canal. In this area, an isolated abandoned water pump house of the old coal mine, dating from 1939, still remains. The chosen location in Houthalen-Helchteren features a diverse landscape of hay meadows, pastures, clusters of trees, thickets, and poplars. The route to this site isn’t straightforward; after departing from the city center, participants hike for about half an hour to reach the Pomphuis. Upon arrival, they take a thoughtful moment to observe the setting where they make their loaves —an experience that, for some, is their first.

Hand-grinding Table




Millstones, essential tools found in pairs, are used in gristmills to grind wheat and other grains. The base, or bedstone, remains stationary while the turning runner stone spins above it, creating a scissoring action that effectively grinds the grain. In the grinding room, the Hand-Grinding Table comes with eight millstones integrated into a single table top replicating this traditional grinding method.


In this setup, participants engage by manually turning the rolling stones using wooden handles. As the grains are crushed, a resonant sound fills the air, creating a contemplative communal experience that encourages participants to reflect on their connections —with each other, themselves, the materials, and their surroundings. The Hand-Grinding Table transforms the act of grinding into a moment of shared presence and introspection.