Art News 002: Foodways at the Richmond Art Gallery

Written By Stephanie Broder

Today, I had the privilege of attending the opening of the exhibition Foodways at the Richmond Art Gallery. This stunning exhibition is about the techniques, histories, and social interactions surrounding food. It will be on display at the RAG from Oct. 19 to Dec. 31, 2024.

Part of Marlene Yuen’s “Peace Together”, screen and relief prints on washi paper

Foodways features work from the artists Derya Akay, Sara Angelucci, Jesse Birch, Patrick Cruz, Ellie Kyungran Heo, Kosisochukwu Nnebe, Karen Tam, Tania Willard, Paul Wong, Marlene Yuen, and Shellie Zhang.

The vibrant and varied work in the gallery highlights a variety of responses to food, exploring topics as broad as cultural identity, personal narratives, colonialist histories, community and the transmission of knowledge.

I was particularly struck by Kosisochukwu Nnebe’s 2022 work “an inheritance.” Nnebe’s work is a series of digital prints that mimic recipe instructions but actually demonstrate the possibility of extracting cyanide from cassava. Enslaved people used the extracted cyanide to poison slavemasters, their stock, or themselves in acts of rebellion.

A portion of Kosisochukwu Nnebe’s “an inheritance”

For the exhibition opening, we were lucky to get an introduction to eh works by Richmond Art Gallery curator Zoë Chan. She highlighted the tablecloths of artist Patrick Cruz, inscribed with handwritten recipes and stained with traces of past meals. Chan also noted the beautiful tea set gifted by curator and potter Jesse Birch and how the lid of the teapot cracked during the making of the set. The result was a collaboration with artist Naoko Fukumaru, who repaired the crack using kintsugi, a traditional Japanese method of mending cracks with gold.

But of course, my absolute favourite piece was Marlene Yuen’s massive “Peace Together” installation of silkscreen and relief prints. This work alone makes the trek out to the RAG worthwhile (and I went during a torrential downpour!) because you really can’t understand the scale and energy of this piece without being in front of it.

A small portion of Marlene Yuen’s “Peace Together” installation

Yuen’s work was inspired by the legendary Steveston store, which is unfortunately closed, called Hong Wo General Store. In her introduction to the work at the event, Yuen mentioned that looking at imagery and records from the Richmond Archives was very information for this work. A key detail that stood out to her was that at the height of Hong Wo, it served Japanese, Chinese, Indigenous and settler communities.

A small portion of Marlene Yuen’s “Peace Together” installation

The packaging in Hong Wo was often repurposed, which glass Miracle Whip and Instant Coffee Jars kept in thrifty households to can or store foods. And apparently the Empire rice bags that Yuen recreated even included instructions on them for stripping the ink to turn the bags into clothing.

Paul Wong’s photographs showcase the same reuse of glass jars and old containers that Yuen’s story highlights

Foodways felt inviting as I wound through the gallery. I felt like a guest at many different dinner tables, peeking into cupboards and bubbling pots before sitting down for a meal with new friends. It’s a show not to be missed. And if you want to find the space as activated as it was on opening night, the Collage Party: Printmaking & Collage with Marlene Yuen on November 16th from 1-4pm would be a great time to visit!

Stephanie Broder
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