Aftertaste (2023)

Aftertaste | 15 April to 12 August 2023
Fairfield City Museum & Gallery (FCMG)
Cabrogal Land of the Darug Nation

EXHIBITION BRIEF: Aftertaste considered how food can act as a channel between a subject’s past, present, and future, activating and encoding memories that can connect individuals to a shared cultural experience or place. Following the work of anthropologists who describe shared sense memories as ‘cultural artefacts’, this exhibition underscored the important role the senses play in maintaining cultural ties to reveal how various forms of knowledge can be embedded and reactivated through sensory contact with food. Aftertaste aimed to ignite conversations around culture, identity, and representation through tastes on the tongue by drawing together food-related artworks, including installations, videos, sculptures, and participatory tasting workshops.

ARTISTS: Reanne Chidiac, Dylan Goh, Lindsay Kelley, Mylyn Nguyen, Mariam Slewo, James Tylor, Elizabeth Willing, Justine Youssef, Siying Zhou.
9 artists, 13 artworks (3 commissions).

Aftertaste included emerging, mid-career, and established NSW and interstate artists from QLD, VIC, SA, and ACT. The exhibition also foregrounded local stories by featuring several Western Sydney-based artists.

PUBLICATION:
The 34-page exhibition catalogue includes an Acknowledgement of Country by FCMG, a curatorial essay titled Remembrance of Tastes Past, biographies for the artists and curator, full-page colour reproductions of each artwork with an artist statement, and four recipes related to the exhibition by Lindsay Kelley and Siying Zhou (in English & Chinese). The catalogue, exhibition intro panel, and promotional assets were designed by Kathie Nad.

A Seat at the Table: Aftertaste Community Day was a full day of workshops, tastings, demonstrations, and talks designed bring together the local community to eat, share stories, and engage with the exhibition. The suite of artist-led programs organised by FCMG Programs Officer, San May, included:

After Adelaide Hendle: Anzac biscuit mou(u)rning tea with Lindsay Kelley: An artist talk and Anzac biscuit tasting with Lindsay Kelley.
Takeaway Recreations with Siying Zhou: A workshop led by Siying Zhou transform selected Chinese takeaways into dishes that represent the ethno-culture you identify with.
The Origins of Sweet and Sour Pork with Jane Fan: Learn the history of Chinese sweet & sour pork through a cooking demonstration and tasting.
Learning from hydrosols with Justine Youssef: Justine Youssef guided participants in distilling a scented oil from plants found on the FCMG grounds.
Lebanese Coffee & Diaspora Stories with Reanne Chidiac: Reanne Chidiac invited guests to share their stories over Lebanese coffee and sweets.

PUBLICATIONS & LECTURES:
Fizell, Megan R. “Curating Multisensory and Food-Based Art,” presented at SPARK: Museums. Ideas. Connections., convened by Museums & Galleries of NSW at the Art Gallery of New South Wales; 21 Sept 2022.
(in development) Fizell, Megan R. “Sensory connections and artistic foodways in Australian contemporary art.” Book chapter in forthcoming edited volume, Tastes of Justice.

NEWSLETTERS:
Email newsletter, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, 13 July 2023. Web.
“What’s On” brochure (July – December 2023), Fairfield City Museum & Gallery. Print.
City Life Winter edition, Issue 99, Fairfield City Council. Print.
Email newsletter, Fairfield City Council, 13 April 2023. Web.
Email newsletter, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, 11 April 2023. Web.
Email invitation, Fairfield City Museum & Gallery, 24 March 2023. Web.
City Life Autumn edition, Issue 28, Fairfield City Council. Print.
“What’s On” brochure (January – June 2023), Fairfield City Museum & Gallery. Print.

Following along on social media with the hashtag #aftertaste2023.

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