Food massage salon

How can we reconnect people to their senses?

Imagine you are wrapped up in a blanket, lying in a hammock, just floating in the air. But where your mouth is meant to be, there’s only a hole. Your eyes are blindfolded. You get stroked and massaged gently. Lovingly. You hear the voice of a stranger . Or is it? It’s the voice of your own tongue. Your tongue guides you and tells you stories about the unexpected parts of your mouth and the sensorial adventures you are about to embark on.

We live a life a life with very limited sensorial experiences. We watch screens. We buy packaged food and touch our screens more than we touch our loved ones. Food Massage Salon The TReatMENT is a compact sensorial full body experience resetting our connection with our senses.

‘I know, I never really spoke to you before. Us body parts, we speak to each other subconsciously but since you decided to lay down in this crazy banana I thought what the heck, let’s just join the craziness and start talking to you.
So, I have been living comfortably in the warm space that is your mouth for your whole life.

I have been with you from when you were still in your mothers womb. We had so many great adventures together!

I remember tasting baby milk for the ﬁrst time and I was there when you fell and I tasted the metallic ﬂavour of blood. I as there when you ate a hand of sand, licked your ﬁrst ice cream and when you had your ﬁrst real kiss… remember?

I am with you always. Eagerly awaiting for you to try something new.

I enjoy when you talk and use me to shape the words coming from your mouth. When you sing or say a new word in a diﬀerent language. I enjoy when you eat something fully concentrated en then use me to describe the ﬂavour and textural sensation.

Occasionally, when you are in a hurry or stressed you have bitten me and when I hurt and blood I have thought it would be so nice to be a diﬀerent body part. But I know those can hurt as well and then, I realise there is no better body part to be in your body than me. I am full of thousands of sensors, I can move, I help you speak, I taste and can engage in full contact with body parts of other humans, if you know what I mean :)’

The Food Massage Salon was quite an experience for those who benefited from it but also for the event because it was so catchy, and a super original approach. We managed to provide meaningful unforgettable moments!

Ana Rita Cameira curator Melting Gastronomy summit Porto

The Therapist who gives the Food massage will stroke and massage you. He or she wears a headphone and hears exactly the same story you do. During the experience the therapist shapes a full body experience through stroking and massage. Eventually the therapist amplifies the tongue’s story with 8 small food bites that all create an unexpected new sensation in the mouth. In the setting of a beauty salon the food is used as both a treatment as well as a sensorial exploration of the mouth.

Think of edible lip-balm, a skin-yoghurt treatment outside and inside the mouth but also a small bit of tahini strategically placed between lower lip and teeth which is a place in the mouth hardly ever used. Crispy apple cubes that need to be chewed to a beat to create an inner mouth concert for only you to hear and tapioca pearls to count using nothing but your tongue.

Visitors reaction ranged from highly amused and surprised to deeply touched and emotional feeling re-connected to their own senses in a way never felt before.

Ann-Christin Bertrand, Curator of C/O Berlin:

Working with Marije was a great pleasure, always smooth and positive, with great creative energy. The Food Massage Salon Marije developed was just such a great complement to the exhibition! A full success with fully booked time slots and visitors that left happy and moved in same time.’

Ana Rita Cameira, curator of Melting, gastronomy summit, Porto:

‘Marije is the most creative, joyful, energetic and inspiring person I know! After attending her talk in London in 2018, I immediately invited her to participate in the first edition of Melting. Marije came up with the Food Massage Salon which was quite an experience for those who benefit from this unique trEATment and also for the event because it was so catchy, and a super original approach. We managed to provide meaningful unforgettable moments! Marije has this great ability to make us pay attention to our senses, whilst making us think deeply, laugh, relax and even feel much better, I must as well mention her creative mind gym which is definitely worth it. Marije simply creates life changing experiences. What else can I say?’