Suzanne Lacy and Linda Pruess (San Francisco, 1979)
A simultaneous world wide dinner happening on the eve of Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this global project was offered as a gift to Judy Chicago, one of Lacy’s mentors.

Gathering mailing lists from the rapidly growing networks of feminist and development organizations, in this era before the internet, Lacy and Pruess mailed thousands of postcards inviting women from around the world to participate in the art project. Over 2000 women responded, in groups as small as two and as large as fifty. They were invited to host dinners on the same evening that would honor a woman in their own region. Given the time difference, the events would form a twenty-four hour simultaneous celebration. At each dinner women collectively drafted a statement and sent it via telegram to the SF MOMA, where their dinner was marked by Lacy with a red inverted triangle on a twenty-foot black and white map of the world. Their telegrams were displayed in albums next to the map.

Telegrams came in from Japan, Greece, South America, Europe, Africa, and all around the United States. From Amsterdam, “Samenwerk maakt sterk—working together makes us strong;” from Athens, “In Greece women write their difficult story (stop) is an everyday hard work (stop) deepest appreciation for your movement;” from the US Air Force, “we are women working for the most macho superstructure in the world;” Nagoya: “We are very happy to join in this celebration with women around the world. Stay tuned for later report.” Over fifty of the participating groups sent further documentation of their dinners, with photographs, small sculptures, and table cloths, among other memorabilia.