Marlon F. Hall reception

media release: April 5 - May 17, Main Gallery, Memorial Union, Madison. Reception: Friday, April 5, 6–7:30pm.

From April 5 to May 17, 2024, artist, author, and anthropologist Marlon F. Hall will present Can I Tell You A Story?: A Door at the Center of a Table, an exhibition that will demonstrate the beauty of human connectedness found at the intersection of anthropology and art, which brings healing to “communities that have experienced political, cultural, or systemic trauma.” 

Marlon makes tables to make meals as an art practice. At the center of these tables are reclaimed doors made of native wood from the communities where he finds himself. He invites to the table a cross-pollination of people —16 at a time— to engage in the beauty intrinsic to being human. Original musical composition, rich culinary art, and intentionally designed conversations drive a night of wonder experienced by people who are different and share a heart for the community. At the table, they cannot talk about what they do, only who they are and why they exist.

As a Spring 2024 Interdisciplinary Artist-in-Residence in UW–Madison’s Division of the Arts and the Art Department, Marlon brings meals as an art practice to campus and the greater Madison area. He has invited a cross-pollination of university students to explore the power of community meals and be transformed through the restorative practice of storylistening.