Press release:
BEEING TOGETHER: Building a Chula
Join us in building a large clay oven with benches at Bees & Refugees farm, Kent
ALL WELCOME, FREE TO ATTEND
16th May 2026
22nd, 23rd and 24th May 2026
Bees & Refugees, Otford, Kent
All sessions start from 11am with an option to camp/stay over on site
For full details, travel information and free registration
You are invited to participate in the construction of a large chula, a South Asian outdoor clay oven, as well as a seating area, using reclaimed clay from building sites around London. The session will be hosted by artist Roo Dhissou & Rescued Clay, with Ali Alzein of Bees & Refugees, an environmental and social justice organisation dedicated to promoting beekeeping as a craft, connecting communities and restoring native bees.
At Bees & Refugees and beyond, a honeybee colony functions as one body, with each individual bee taking on a distinct role. For bees, dance and sleep are inseparable from the work of maintaining the hive. In a similar spirit, the chula-building sessions are open to all forms of participation.
For the unsettled among us, food can act as a portal. When we cook together, especially outdoors, we often experience ourselves in several places at once — most of which are impossible, risky, or complicated to return to. We hope for the chula to be a kind of sanctuary: one that offers an expanded sense of belonging with the potential for sharing stories and spending time with others.
Chula building sessions
Saturday 16.5.26, from 11:00 — Preparation: Collecting and cleaning and clay; mixing it with sand, water, straw, or rice husk. Construction: Digging foundation holes, building the base bricks
Friday 22.5.25 and Saturday 23.5.26 from 11:00/Main day Saturday: Construction: Building the chula oven and benches with the clay mix
Sunday 24.5.26 from 11:00 — Curing: We will have the first fire going, using charcoal
Beyond the technical build, we will embed two key rituals into the process that establish collective ownership and meaning within the space. The first is the foundation ritual, Saturday 16th May, where people who use and contribute to the space are invited to help dig the foundations and, most importantly, to take part in placing the very first foundation brick, marking a shared act of grounding, intention, and responsibility for the site.
The second is the fire ritual, Sunday 24th May, where the chula will be lit for the first time, although it may not be fully cured depending on weather conditions. This initial fire will begin the internal hardening process and mark the activation of the structure. This moment serves as a closing ceremony for the build phase, symbolising the transition from construction to a living, functional fire space and recognising the collective effort that has gone into its creation.
The short film Edge Detection Algorhythm by Oreet Ashery, made in collaboration with Ali Alzein and Clo Page, was filmed at the farm and will be screened over the second weekend.
A design for a chula at Bees and Refugees by Roo Dhissou, Beeing Together, May 2026
Beeing Together is a project conceived by artist Oreet Ashery as part of their research into bee vision, edge detection and multispecies cohabitation. It is one iteration of a wider project that includes an essay, a series of short films, a new font, a publication and an online radical beekeepers gathering.
Beeing Together is made in collaboration with Ali Alzein at Bees & Refugees, Beatrice-Lily Lorigan, Clo Page, Flo Ray, Kate Keohane, Preshant at Rescued Clay and Roo Dhissou.
Upcoming:
Crab Museum , films screening and event, date tbc
Kate Keohane, radical beekeepers online gathering, May 29th, 4pm-6pm
Kate Keohane, ‘Edge Detection and Ecological Abstraction: Balling, Bees, and Opacity,’ as part of the panel ‘Art History Warmed Up?’, Association for Art History Annual Conference 2026. 8 – 10 April. University of Cambridge.