What is conjured in our memory through food, in gathering together over an evening meal?
If Sea is History? – What is Nation? draws from DRIFT – a post national digital pavilion project that takes the form of a series of radical re-imaginings of Europeanness which reflects on the entanglement between land and water, movement and m/otherlands, in the forging of new identities and subjectivities. Following on from last year’s research network, ‘Archipelagos in Reverse’, we will consider the sea as an archive that connects body and memory.
The Research Network is a space that brings together curators, writers, artists and creatives to share their ongoing research in dialogue with others. As part of this year’s programme, iniva is partnering with Studio Voltaire for a series of monthly Artist Kitchen Salons with our four Research Network Associates Safiya Robinson (sisterwoman vegan), Holly Graham, Shenece Oretha and Beatrix Pang to share your ongoing work.
iniva’s Research Network is supported by Freelands Foundation.
Associates
Safiya Robinson is a creative cook, writer, wellness advocate and the founder of sisterwoman vegan, a plant based social enterprise exploring wellness through food. A creative and vibrational cook , she creates plant based dishes inspired by her Black American, Jamaican and British heritage and believes that food is a healing modality, centring community, education and mindfulness in her work. With a focus on holistic wellness and mental health she creates spaces for critical food conversation and seeks to empower us all to think more critically about the food that we eat. Through supper clubs, cooking lessons, writing, events and food education, her focus is intentional nourishment. She is currently enrolled in a masters programme in the Anthropology of Food at SOAS University.
Shenece Oretha is a London based multidisciplinary artist sounding out the voice and sound’s mobilising potential. Through installation, performance, print, sculpture, sound, workshops and text she amplifies and celebrates listening and sound as an embodied and collective practice. In collaboration with groups in community with Open School East and Despacito Art School in Margate, Oretha created a soundscape work for DRIFT – a post-national digital pavilion.
Holly Graham is a London-based artist, working predominantly with print and audio. Much of her work looks at ways in which memory and narrative shape collective histories. Holly holds a BFA from Oxford University and an MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art. Recent solo projects include commissions with Glasgow Women’s Library, Glasgow (2022); Skelf, Online (2022); TACO!, London (2021-22); Robert Young Antiques, London (2021); Gaada, Shetland (2020); Goldsmiths CCA, Online (2020); and Southwark Park Galleries, London (2020). Holly is a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London; and is Co-Founder of Cypher BILLBOARD, London. She is also a Trustee at Kingsgate Workshops.
Beatrix Pang Sin Kwok 彭倩幗 (they/them, b. 1976, Hong Kong) is a visual artist, cultural producer and independent publisher whose early practice revolved around photography, lens-based medium and performance. They studied art photography and fundamental design in Hong Kong and Scandinavia. Pang has exhibited at Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong), Para Site (Hong Kong), Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art (Canada), Sprint Milano (Italy) and Chinese Culture Center, San Francisco (USA).
Partners
Studio Voltaire is one of the UK’s leading not–for–profit arts organisations. Placing great emphasis on risk–taking and experimentation, our pioneering programmes of exhibitions, collaborative projects, artist development, live events and offsite commissions have gained an international reputation.
Artist Kitchen Salon Zine
Read the Artist Kitchen Salon Zine – an A5 bound zine that functions as part cookbook (to be used in your kitchen) and part memoir of notes and reflections to be used as a source of inspiration on nationhood and identity.
Image Credit: ©Beatrix Pang, Seed to Textile (2021), courtesy of CHATMILLS6