–dirt– earth: A one-night dinner work by Tsohil Bhatia in Pittsburgh
dirt earth
A one-night dinner work with artist Tsohil Bhatia at Peel, with music by Formosa
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026
Time: 8:00–11:00 pm
Location: Peel | 5806 Forbes Ave. | Pittsburgh, PA
Reserved Seats: $50 per person (see below); free for CUE members (see here)
dirt earth is a one-night program by Tsohil Bhatia, presented by CUE Art and Peel, a Pittsburgh-based artist-run teahouse, during the Carnegie International. Guests gather for a shared eight-course meal in which the table becomes a site for speculation on the practices that have shaped what we consider to be either palatable or objectionable.
Drawing upon ingredients and methods that have existed for centuries—ash, clay, salt, grain, fruit, char, fermentation—the menu acts as a set of relations to land across geographies and over time. Recipes carry evidence of the propositions of the land. They draw from histories of accident, spoilage, and contamination, often incorporating ingredients that we have learned to distrust.
That which is trampled upon, discarded, exploited, and disparaged is reoriented as ground; it is worked with, cared for, and shared in circulation. Dirt recedes; earth remains. Through vocabularies of refusal and relation, the work reconsiders our prevailing conceptions of value and sustenance.
The meal will be followed by a set by multi-disciplinary Pittsburgh-based DJ, artist, and designer Formosa.
dirt earth is a ticketed event that includes an eight-course meal and light drinks. Capacity is limited, and reserved seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of CUE enter free (sign up here and indicate your RSVP upon registering).
Please note that guests will be seated in close proximity, and food will be served communally. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free items will be offered. The meal will begin at 8:30 pm.
Tsohil Bhatia (b. New Delhi, India) is an artist, homemaker, and educator currently based in Lenapehoking, now known as New York City. They received their MFA at the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University (2020), and completed their undergraduate studies in product design and performance in Bangalore, India. Their work draws on vocabularies of sculpture, performance, and the kitchen. With homemaking as its everyday practice, Bhatia’s work emerges from contemplations on the latencies of mundane objects, daily rituals, and images—bringing together the complexities of the everyday and of the body’s relationship with time and the space it inhabits.
In some of their older work, they have counted their breath, drawn a continuous line that is 58,600 inches long, drooled for four hours, mapped light from a window, collected and evaporated water from the five oceans, swam towards the setting sun, and intuitively counted the seconds of a clock.
Bhatia co-founded Red Flower Collective, a communal eating and food research collective that hosts multicourse meals as their primary activation. They have been a resident at the Fire Island Artist Residency (2024), Center for Book Arts (2022), Oxbow Summer Residency (2021) and Chautauqua Artist Residency (2021).
Peel (est. Feb 2026) is an artist + chef-run teahouse and project space founded by Clarice Du and Rongji Fang in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Peel emerged from a shared curiosity about the origins, migrations, and histories of the tea leaf as a diasporic subject. Through its physical space, menu, and activations, tea serves as both nourishment and grounds for experimental art and food praxis with and in diasporic, queer, and translocal contexts. Peel continues to develop collaborations, expanding into broader investigations of foodways with artists and researchers who share these values and perspectives.
Formosa is a multi-disciplinary Taiwanese-American DJ, artist and designer who performs both solo and as half of regular Pittsburgh queer party and music duo Jellyfish. Behind the decks from Pittsburgh to New York, London, Mexico, and Taipei, their sets range from italo disco to electro, jackin' house, drum and bass, breakbeat, minimal, and more.
Support
This program is made possible through essential support from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Art, Brian Wongchaowart, Chris and Dawn Fleischner, and JADED.
