Interview with Goblin Feast – WORM X Amarte 2025

Get to know Goblin Feast, the collective behind the free workshop series Mould Me.

Goblin Feast, comprising Carla Menas, Chris Nelck, Mila Toneva, and Paul Smullenberg, imagine how goblins, these unruly creatures, might celebrate a night of taunting humans: through food, fantasy, and rituals.

Their workshop series Mould Me celebrates odd, mythical foods inspired by the goblin; the mischievous folklore outcast. They call upon all their misbehaving castaways to explore the journey to celebration.

Their workshops take place on the 9th, 20th, and 21st of November.

Get your free tickets and find more information here.

WHAT LED YOU TO CREATE YOUR COLLECTIVE?

CHRIS NELCK: I think it started with Carla and me getting an obsession about 70s-inspired food, jellies and stuff. We wanted to work together, and we asked our colleague Paul, who is a master chef who knows everything about food, to join us. We work at Roodkapje, so there was an empty space, and we just started using the space and invited people to bring food. So it was really organically growing bigger and bigger. And now we’ve started doing it professionally. Everyone agrees?

CARLA MENAS: Everyone agrees!

YES, LIKE THOSE 1950S JELL-O FOOD WITH A WHOLE CHICKEN INSIDE THE JELLY, AND YOU’RE WONDERING HOW THIS COULD BE TASTY.

CARLA MENAS: Yes, such ugly food.

PAUL MULLENBERG: At the first event, I really thought that it had to be as ugly as possible, and then they came with the most beautiful food. I didn’t get the brief *haha*.

CARLA MENAS: Yeah, to be fair, we did confuse the brief.

PAUL MULLENBERG: I came in with the ugliest and horrifying grey jelly with a bratwurst as a mouth.

CARLA MENAS: It was great!

SOUNDS SUPER APPETIZING!

MILA TONEVA: I wasn’t there in real life, but I did see the pictures, and I couldn’t sleep after that. Beautiful!

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO USE GOBLINS, WHICH YOU DESCRIBE AS MISCHIEVOUS, SHAPESHIFTING FOLKLORE MISFITS, AS YOUR IMAGE?

CHRIS NELCK: I mean, we’re all a bit of outcasts. Right?

CARLA MENAS: Not Mila, Mila is perfect.

CHRIS NELCK: And it’s really about resisting normative eating culture. So we’re trying to disturb it, like goblins do, because they disturb households; we’re disturbing the dinner table.

CARLA MENAS: Yeah, I think also on a larger scale, as well, in terms of being creatives and being sort of lower income, we also have this idea that we are, as Chris said, these outcasts. So you can say that they are on a micro and macro scale, within this city, within an economic and global scale. Yeah, and the idea of the goblin is also that they are taunting humans. I think we, as a collective, started the group as something that was based on community and friendship, and fun. And that’s how it should be while it’s expanding.

AND ALSO THE PLEASURE IN DOING SOMETHING ABSURD BUT TOGETHER SO IT DOESN’T MATTER IF PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND.

CARLA MENAS: Exactly. Also, we first started doing these events privately, so it was first us, and then we invited our friends. Then we opened up so that anyone could join. My favourite thing was when we did an event in the garage of Roodkapje because people were passing by, and this was a very different crowd from people who would’ve signed up to our events. But it was great seeing these business people, from like Unilever buildings, coming and being like “What the fuck is going on?” When that happens, I just think “We did it.”

PAUL MULLENBERG: Yeah, and yesterday we had two people who were on a first date.

MILA TONEVA: Wow, that’s a date they’ll remember forever.

CARLA MENAS: Well, it’s the end of the world, you’ve got to grab a date quickly.

FOOD, RITUALS, AND COMMUNITY ARE AT THE HEART OF THIS PROJECT. HOW DID YOU SEE THOSE ELEMENTS COMING TOGETHER IN THE WORKSHOP?

CHRIS NELCK: So we kind of divided the workshop into three parts. First, it’s going to be a performance costume-making part, and then a more cooking-based workshop. And finally, we bring it together like in a classic goblin feast. So we’re giving the public the backside of the goblin feast. What we usually do at home, or what people do at home, we’re bringing it to the workshops. And we hope that in the last feast, people bring what they’ve learned or what they’ve made in the other two workshops.

SO, BRINGING PEOPLE INTO YOUR ART PROCESS.

CARLA MENAS: Yeah, it’s basically that. I think the whole point is, again, that we started on this basis of community and friendship. So, it’s basically having people join our process and showing that there’s also a lot of elements behind what we do. As Chris mentioned, we’re going to have workshops based on performance, some based on food, and essentially, the last workshop is based on the feast and actually immersing yourself and having fun.

PAUL MULLENBERG: Yeah, now you can also join in on all the preparations.

CARLA MENAS: Yeah, because when it started with friends, it was basically a potluck, so it was based on people bringing their food. And like Mila brought some crazy dumpling rats that were iconic.

MILA TONEVA: They looked almost too realistic.

CARLA MENAS: Yeah, just like skinned, unfurred rats, it’s hard to explain.

MILA TONEVA: And the inside was made of beetroot, so it kind of looked like blood.

CARLA MENAS: And it was an animal-themed feast. So it was like, “Thank you.” But basically, it’s about expanding the idea of having people join in on the process. We want people to be involved in the process and do it together, and we get to celebrate it together in the end. We want to make everyone a goblin and join us. The pickle martini might have a comeback as well.

MILA TONEVA: Or a sauerkraut martini.

CARLA MENAS: That shit was wild.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE PARTICIPANTS GET OUT OF THE WORKSHOPS?

PAUL MULLENBERG: I think it would be nice for people to see inside our kitchen and see what you can do if you come together.

CHRIS NELCK: Yeah, maybe learn some new skills, but also be inspired. It’s fun, and it’s also light, so I hope people get energy from it. And you know, you’re normal in our space. Even if you’re super weird, you’re normal here.

CARLA MENAS: Oh yeah, super normal *haha*. And when I was in school, this teacher was grading my project and he asked, “What’s the point of the project?” and I replied, “To have fun.” And he said, “You can’t just say that, you can’t just have fun.” And I’m like, “No, I can say that, it is to have fun.” And I think that’s the point of the workshop. The end point is to actually just have a fucking weird, cute time. And how it comes together is always different. So it’s really fun to see what happens.

YOUR WORK LEANS INTO THE ABSURD, THE FILTHY, THE TRANSGRESSIVE. IS THIS WHAT DREW YOU TO EXPLORE PLEASURE ACTIVISM AS A CENTRAL THEME?

CARLA MENAS: Maybe I just answered that a little bit, actually *haha* but yeah, it’s the idea of full immersion and collective fun.

CHRIS NELCK: Yeah, I think, especially in these times where a lot of things are really hard for minorities, or I think just anyone, honestly, it’s nice to have this very creative but happy event that we do in a way to recharge and go back to our lives. So I think that’s why we chose Pleasure Activism because it makes sense with each of our practices and personalities.

CARLA MENAS: Also, I think the idea of food and feasting is universal. And like Chris was saying, in terms of minorities sort of struggling, and the way the world is falling apart right now, it’s also a nice way of connecting with almost everyone and having a good time. And who doesn’t want to eat a cake shaped like whatever, you know?

BEYOND THESE WORKSHOPS AND PAST PROJECTS, HOW DO YOU SEE GOBLIN FEAST GROWING OR TRANSFORMING IN THE FUTURE?

CHRIS NELCK: We really want to write a manifesto and get more into the theory of what we do. Because there is theory, I promise. And also, we’ve been collaborating with Wasteland, and it’s been super fruitful so I would personally love to do more collaborations with other food-based collectives. And I think we’re just going to keep organizing these events until we don’t have fun anymore.

CARLA MENAS: I also want to work at festivals. I think that would be my “I made it” moment.

AND CAN WE EXPECT A COOKBOOK?

CARLA MENAS: Ooo, I don’t know. I would want people to be there; you have to just be there.

PAUL MULLENBERG: I don’t know if a cookbook would work because it’s more about being creative.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES.

PAUL MULLENBERG: Yeah, it’s not. People need to get creative, and that’s why it’s fun to join; a book would just guide people in a very specific way.

CHRIS NELCK: Yeah, and it goes back to the structures of food, like you need to follow a recipe. I never follow recipes; I have ADHD, and I don’t know how to follow recipes.

MILA TONEVA: I’m Balkan, they say one clove of garlic, you think I follow them, I put at least five of them in.

OKAY, AMAZING, THANK YOU!

Follow the collective on their Instagram here.

Interview by Madeleine Martin.

Photographs by Jip Moeken (Instagram and website).

Mould Me is part of WORM x Amarte 2025, a residency programme in which the two organisations provide a space for four collectives to develop new workshop series and advance their artistic practices.