Laisul Hoque - An Ode To All The Flavours

An Ode To All The Flavours
Laisul Hoque
26 April - 31 May 2026
Private View: 26th April 4-8pm
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Open:
Wednesday - Saturday
12pm-5pm and by Appointment
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An Ode to All the Flavours is an interactive installation that invites audiences to taste and experience the artist’s father’s favourite childhood snack.
The trays contain
Jhuri (a.k.a Sev): Fried chickpea and gram flour seasoned with salt, turmeric, cayenne, and bishop’s W**d. (Vegan; may contain traces of gluten and nuts.)
Boondi/Bhundiya: Fried chickpea flour balls soaked in sugar syrup. (Vegan; may contain traces of gluten.)
Please help yourself by using the bowls provided and mixing equal portions of each component together.
Artist Statement
As far as memory serves, moments when my father showed his emotional side to me were rare. Our interactions often consist of my mother passing the phone to him during our FaceTime calls. He inquires about my well-being and expresses concerns about my life choices, which only add to my anxiety and existential dread. The conversation usually drifts into disapproving remarks about the length of my hair or the presence of facial hair, delivered in a tone tinged with disappointment. I rarely have a satisfying response—usually offering silence or a hesitant answer. Our calls often end with him saying, “Alright, talk to your mother,” as he hands the phone back to her. These exchanges oscillate between silence and heated arguments about my autonomy and agency.
But there is one memory from my childhood that stands out. During a visit to my grandparents, my father decided to take me for a walk through the village market—a glimpse into his upbringing. He led me to a sodium-lit sweet shop and suggested we try his favourite childhood snack: Jhuri Bundiya. This unfamiliar treat combined two distinct snacks—Jhuri, fried gram flour flakes seasoned with spices, and Boondi, small balls of fried chickpea flour soaked in sugar syrup. It was a revelation—a snack that was simultaneously salty, savoury, spicy, and sweet. Mixing the two together was unconventional, and I didn’t know it was allowed.
As we walked back, I held his hand, overwhelmed with gratitude for letting me experience that part of his childhood. Much like the flavours, I imagined that his childhood must have been complex. But much like him, I didn’t express anything. The thought of being emotional with him scared me, partly because I was too young, and mostly because articulating these emotions felt too complicated.
The memory of that warm, nostalgic yellow light, the sensation of tasting something entirely new, and his fleeting smile remain vivid in my mind. It was a rare offering from him to me—a moment I came to see as paternal love. It’s an experience I now wish others could savour.
Throughout my upbringing, the statements I heard most often were: “Don’t stray from norms and traditions,” “Always try to fit in,” and “What will people say?” These words came most frequently from my father. And yet, his favourite snack growing up was something unconventional.
Laisul Hoque is an artist from Dhaka, based in London. Drawing from his memories and lived experiences, he creates image-based works and installations that explore and decode microhistories and their global impacts. His practice investigates communication, miscommunication, and adopts a reparative reading of the past. By creating spaces to revisit societal norms and traditions, and advocating for the recognition of adverse elements, Hoque imagines how we can act in society.
He is the 2025 recipient of the Bow Arts East London Prize and also hosted the project at the Whitechapel gallery.

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