Dinner for One holds the record for repeated television screenings in Germany. This sketch, starring Freddie Frinton and May Warden, has been shown every New Year’s Eve since 1972. Over the decades Dinner for One has impressed a vision of the British upon viewers in Germany and other European countries. And yet this TV-production from 1963 is unknown within the UK. This phenomenon inspired London-based artist Sigune Hamann to create DinnerFor1.

The British Council Germany in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut London are pleased to present this new video project by Sigune Hamann as part of transmediale 05 international media art festival Berlin.

DinnerFor1 will be launched on 4 February 2005 at 6pm at the British Council in a special screening reception for the press and invited guests and will be introduced by Sean Rainbird, Curator, Tate London. Additionally, the artist will give a talk on her work DinnerFor1 at the Transmediale in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt on 5 February 2005 at 4pm.

DinnerFor1 features a woman talking to you. She establishes a one-to-one relationship with the viewer in four video pieces, changing her role and consequently yours in each narrative. DinnerFor1 explores situations of isolation, loneliness and the passing of time, set against public expectations of social behaviour and conflicts individuals experience in the public arena. Hamann examines national identities and stereotypes. Exploring images of British life and culture accessible in Germany, the narrative focuses on the themes of wit, war and royalty using literary play, interview and enquiry.

DinnerFor1 was inspired by the cult German television production from 1963 based on a British vaudeville sketch from the 1920s. Dinner for One has become part of the New Years Eve ritual in several European countries. The attraction to repetition within the sketch and of the programme itself can be interpreted as a yearning for a predictable and traditional world - „the same procedure as every year“ – enhanced by the enjoyment of perceived English humour with its gentle mocking of the upper class at home.

DinnerFor1.com will be online from New Year's Eve 2004 and screened at the cinema of the Goethe-Institut London on the 7th February 2005.

Additional support provided by the University of Arts London, Camberwell College of Art

Date: 4-20 February 2005

Location: British Council, centre, Alexanderplatz 1, 10178 Berlin