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Exhibited during the summer of 2006 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, this installation was a contemporary take on the traditional Turkish coffee house. Both the design and the community involvement were devised by DPQ, working with children from the Turkish Education Group in Newington Green to develop personal interpretations of the Nazar Boncuk (evil eye) tradition to adorn the structure.

The children, who ranged in age from seven to fifteen, were encouraged to investigate their own interpretations of what offers them protection or luck through workshops devised by DPQ. The culmination of these sessions was a collection of three dimensional charms which were then laser cut from blue acetate

Plant-based patterns from the V&A’s collection of Turkish art were used to create a 3D timber pattern that formed the coffeehouse. From this were hung the charms, bathing the social space in blue light.