Fancy a quiet, gadget free meal out with strangers this month. Then The Silent Dinner could be for you.
As part of the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery exhibition with every breath, interdisciplinary artist and former Blue Mountains resident Honi Ryan will host A Silent Dinner at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre on Friday August 23.
Organisers said this is a participatory performance based around a three-course meal.
Guests are requested to not use words or their voices, not to read or write, to try to make as little noise as possible and not to interact with digital devices. And they need to stay for two hours.
Ryan's instructions are an invitation to share an experience - an invitation into silence and mindfulness.
"Her guidelines serve to help the participant get full value out of the moment. If you can't follow the guidelines there are no penalties, no recriminations," the organisers say.
For the individual who has never sat in silence the achievement is great. In this sense Ryan's contribution moves beyond creating an artwork, it is about creating mindfulness.
The Silent Dinners are an international performance art project; social sculptures which experiment with new forms of exchange while highlighting globalisation and the changing nature of communication. And they are a lot of fun.
A participant at one of the dinners in London in 2013 said: "I was much more tolerant of people tonight than I would have been if they were talking".
Another in Sydney in 2016 said: "Without my personal history, language and expectations, the dinner party would be something else, someone else's story."
To be part of this performance call Blue Mountains Cultural Centre on 4780 5410 by August 16 on 02 4780 5410. Price: $85 / $75 InSight Members (includes three course meal and a glass of bubbles on arrival). There are discounts for groups more than four.
