April 28, 2006
Rodney Dickson
with Tasha Jain, Jay Koh, Smith and Hone
Bagdad Cafe

Bagdad Cafe recreates a hostage situation, a frequent occurrence in Baghdad nowadays. Dinner guests Philip and Jasmina Nikolov- who were previously asked to wear orange - were tied up and fed Middle Eastern food, while being watched by 3 black clothed and hooded guards. During the dinner a tv plays S21: Killing Machine, a documentary about the Khmer Rouge. They talked about the war in Iraq and how each felt about the responsibilities as Americans to react when government behaves in a "non-American" way. They commented on their discomfort at being watched by hooded guards and they had never watched a video on genocide while trying to enjoy food - they did not eat much.

On the walls of the space were pictures of George Bush and Saddam Hussein with speech bubbles attached. After finishing their meal, the guests were invited to write texts in the bubbles. Finally they sat on the couch and watched several episodes of Ali G. They laughed.

After the DVD was finished the three guards took off their hoods, introduced themselves to the guests and discussed their reaction to the piece.