The Historical Dinner

The Historical Dinner has been developed by the Stockholm Museum of Women’s History in order to inspire and spread knowledge about women’s lives through history. The method consists of dinner where a company of guests are invited to share a personal story about a historical woman they would like the world to know about. Through listening and sharing we create new knowledge about our past, as well as a deeper understanding of the present, which all become part of a larger narrative. The dinners are documented and archived, but can also be used as a starting point for artworks or public interventions. The method can be applied to other subaltern, marginalised or silenced groups, as a way to bring up their perspectives and experiences into wider collective memory.