Dania Ezz
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A Capstone Project:
On display from April 17th - April 26th at the NYUAD Art Gallery Project SpaceThis project aims to create a shared sense of nostalgia through food and community. By engaging visitors through videos, interactive games, and a hands-on experience of making their own stuffed vine leaves, the space invites them to explore the cultural and personal significance of the dish. In doing so, it encourages reflection on their own memories and experiences connected to food, family, and tradition.
Act 1: Table
The experience of “Sofra” begins with a narrated projection of memories from the protagonist, Yasmine. These recollections center around the sofra—the dining table—and reveal its deep personal significance in her life. From studying at the table and baking biscuits before Eid, to gathering for family dinners — the sofra serves as a backdrop to moments both ordinary and meaningful.
This act ends with one of Yasmine’s most cherished memories is making stuffed vine leaves—a time-consuming dish that naturally brought her family together.
Act 2: Memories
Act 2 explores three distinct memories Yasmine has of making stuffed vine leaves. Each one invites visitors to physically engage with the experience, allowing them to step into her memories and connect through shared moments. There is no particular order to access these memories
This interactive puzzle recreates one of Yasmine’s memories, centered around her mother calling on her to help prepare stuffed vine leaves before iftar—highlighting how this dish is often made during Ramadan. The interaction begins with an audio loop of her mother calling Yasmine’s name, asking her to bring the spices. The game is triggered by any form of visitor interaction.
The setup includes seven holes, each sized to fit the spice bottles. All indicator lights start red. When a correct bottle is placed, the light turns green; if the wrong bottle is placed, a yellow light appears and a short audio description of the spice plays once. In front of each hole is a sensor marked with a question mark—touching it will play the corresponding spice’s description. Some of the spice bottles have been intentionally left open, encouraging visitors to use their sense of smell to identify them correctly, making the experience both tactile and sensory.
This particular memory reflects how Yasmine—like many others—used to pick up cooking tips and recipes from TV shows. The clip playing on the screen shows a helpful trick for preparing the pot to prevent the vine leaves from burning: layering tomatoes, onions, and extra vine leaves at the bottom before adding the stuffed ones.
Text surrounding the pot guides visitors to interact with it. As they follow the step-by-step instructions on the counter, the text updates in real-time, showing their progress through the task.
A fun detail: the channel playing on the TV is called Sofra!
Memory: Seperating Leaves
This interaction represents Yasmine’s memories competing with other members of her family to separate the vine leaves faster than everyone else. It shows the unavoidable, competitive side of making vine leaves. This game offers 2 different modes, a single player and a multiplayer mode.
Act 3: Community
The third and final component in this experience is the final and most important aspect of making vine leaves: rolling them as a community on the dining table. This section of the experience links together both the first and second acts. This act, like the first, starts with a projection on the table. In this video projection, Yasmine is alone on the table, making vine leaves like how her mother taught her. Although she is physically alone, the memories she carries keep her company. This final video takes the form of a tutorial. Yasmine demonstrates how to roll vine leaves step by step. It’s a gesture that not only preserves tradition but also passes it forward to others.
In the center of the table sits a “community pot.” Visitors are invited to contribute their own memories to it. Pens are provided so that visitors can write down a personal memory as an answer to one of the 5 questions available, then fold the paper and roll it into one of the silicone vine leaves provided. This final gesture invites everyone to leave a trace of themselves and their memories on the Sofra, creating a new sense of community for each visitor in the space.
Tactile & Sensory Experiences
The tactile and sesnsory exeperience of this project was an important part of the design process. The choice of materials, paper, colours and lighting effects were all carefully selected and tested to ensure that these objects work in harmony to create a memorable and satisfying experience.
Lights have also been a huge part of the experience design of the project. An orange light fills the space with a warm tone that reflects off of the white interior of the kitchen. Projectors have also been used as spot lights in order to highlight different elements around the space.
Exhibition Gallery
Making process
Everything in the space was carefully designed and created to fit a certain aesthetic. The kitchen counters were made to encase the games seamlessly, making them seem like a natural part of the space. The circuits were also designed with the kitchen layout in mind, ensuring that everything fit together seamlessly.
Process Gallery
Acknowledgements
This project is very close to my heart and has been a true labour of love. Despite all the effort I poured into this project, it would have not taken shape without the help and support of many others.
A heartfelt thank you to Professor Nimrah Syed who advised us through this project with care and open-mindedness. She embraced our wild ideas and helped shape them into something real. A wholehearted and special thank you to Terry May, our technical advisor, who practically lived in the kitchen and was with us every step of the way—his generosity, patience, and presence carried us through in ways words can hardly capture. I can’t overstate how deeply grateful I am.
My warmest thanks to professors Aaron Sherwood and Aya Riad for their help in realising the conceptual value of Sofra. An equally special thanks to Anthony Bragg, Will Cotton, Nelson Gregory Reyes, Dustin Foster, Talha Muneer, and Tucker Russell for all their help in creating the physical manifestation of Sofra. Their guidance throughout the process, the advice they provided and the things they taught me will always stay with me throughout my life. I am truly thankful for the help and support they provided.
Thank you to the NYUAD Art Gallery team, EC team, the IM lab assistants, A&H capstone team and my friends and peers in the IM program and beyond for their constant support and encouragement throughout the process. And finally, a huge thanks to all our visitors who shared their memories with us and brought our space and vision to life.
Warmly,
Dania Ezz