We Do Chicken Right
2018
performance
During the five-week residency at the Mitchell Art Gallery, Macewan University, instead of making art in the studio, I made a lot of dumplings in exchange for the people that opened their homes to me. For my research, I reached out to local communities and families of colour and asked to be invited to visit their homes to share a meal. As a guest, the conversations always started with “what are you going to make”, then it went to what this food meant to them, to their family, the stories on their move to Edmonton. We’d trace and dive into their backgrounds, family history, rituals, traditions and more intimate stories. It was about openness, listening and recognising those lived experiences on an individual level and connecting them to a collective level.
As a conclusion of these visits, I invited the families and the local community to join me in a reading and social event at the gallery space. Kentucky Fried Chicken was served as I read a short text that I wrote during the residency. The text drew inspiration from a mix of personal stories, realisations, historical and geographically specific facts of this global American fast food. It investigated the emotions, violence and politics behind the food that connects us and brings us comfort and joy.
Subsequently, a version of this performance also took place as part of the exhibition I know you are but what am I, curated by Joni Cheung at Centre A.
2018
performance
During the five-week residency at the Mitchell Art Gallery, Macewan University, instead of making art in the studio, I made a lot of dumplings in exchange for the people that opened their homes to me. For my research, I reached out to local communities and families of colour and asked to be invited to visit their homes to share a meal. As a guest, the conversations always started with “what are you going to make”, then it went to what this food meant to them, to their family, the stories on their move to Edmonton. We’d trace and dive into their backgrounds, family history, rituals, traditions and more intimate stories. It was about openness, listening and recognising those lived experiences on an individual level and connecting them to a collective level.
As a conclusion of these visits, I invited the families and the local community to join me in a reading and social event at the gallery space. Kentucky Fried Chicken was served as I read a short text that I wrote during the residency. The text drew inspiration from a mix of personal stories, realisations, historical and geographically specific facts of this global American fast food. It investigated the emotions, violence and politics behind the food that connects us and brings us comfort and joy.
Subsequently, a version of this performance also took place as part of the exhibition I know you are but what am I, curated by Joni Cheung at Centre A.
