The video installation Oriental Café reconstructs the Cairo Townhouse-Café, where documentary filmmaker Thomas Isler spent several weeks filming conversations on 9/11 with guests in the coffee shop. From the inquiry about their personal experiences on the day of the attacks, the conversations quickly changed to the economic and social implications they had on their every day. The title of the shows' reference to Zurich's increasingly common Oriental Cafes connects to the installations reflection on documentary practice in itself. Underlined by the actual transfer of furniture from the Townhouse Café to the exhibition space it aims to develop a reading between the daily news and European (orient)-exoticism.
This tension is further explored by additional events in the show: On four subsequent Wednesday evenings guests will present their personal travelogues, thus trying to create a contemporary version of the classic format.
