Nourishing Resilience: an artistic perspective on Food Sovereignty

Nourishing Resilience: an artistic perspective on Food Sovereignty is an art exhibition featuring six artists from Scotland, England, Ireland, Ecuador and Mexico working across various mediums such as sculpture, audio and video recordings, and multimedia installation. The exhibition is an extension of the Food Sovereignty Network’s commitment to mobilising artistic practices to contemplate the knowledge generated in the academic environment.

Nourishing Resilience intertwines two distinct projects, reflecting FSN's commitment to operating at both local and global levels. The first project involves collaboration with three local associations in Glasgow dedicated to food-related issues: Landworkers' Alliance, Propagate, and The Glasgow City Food Plan. The second project establishes a partnership with local researchers and community leaders in Oaxaca, who supported FSN members during their historic meeting of the people of the agroecological communities of the Lacandon (Chiapas) and the Chimalapas (Oaxaca). The aim was to gain a deeper understanding of the political struggle of these communities and their relationship with the land and food. Drawing from these experiences, FSN commissioned new artworks from two different groups of artists to respond to questions discussed within the network. These questions were explored with academics, activists, NGOs, and diverse communities and groups in Glasgow working to change food systems and address hunger and malnutrition at the local level. The overarching goal was to evaluate leading models for city redesign from a food system reform perspective and to build a stronger Food Sovereignty Network in Glasgow that would have an impact on policy debates and consultations.

The first group consists of three Glasgow-based artists: Katie Revell, Mary Redmond, and Hannah Brackston. Mary Redmond presents a captivating large-scale video piece, taking viewers on a poetic journey through the life cycle of edible plants. The video captures the germination process of seeds from different vegetables commonly found in supermarkets. As these seeds sprout and grow, a thoughtful voiceover narrates personal details and experiences associated with each vegetable. Mary's work serves to subjectivise food, offering a unique perspective that humanises vegetables and deepens our connection to them. Similarly, Katie Revell's audio piece Where does our food come from? prompts the audience to ponder the origins of food and the role of the land in its production. By employing the Socratic method to engage interviewees and listeners, Katie's piece challenges our relationship with food and re-evaluates its conventional status as a mere commodity. Finally, Hannah Brackston presents a sculptural installation featuring artefacts designed and produced by a group of vulnerable women she has engaged with during her workshop practice. By facilitating discussions about daily life in their country of origin, Hannah has encouraged the group members to shape particular types of food in clay, directly related to their personal histories. Hannah’s installation offers a fresh perspective on our everyday ingredients, drawing from the experiences of rural communities in the global south.

The second group highlights a collaboration between Desirée Coral, an Ecuadorian artist residing in Dundee, and two Mexican artists, Mari Mariel and Asunción Alvarado Martinez. Acting as a cultural bridge between Scotland and Mexico, Desirée initiates a dialogue with artworks by Mari and Asunción, weaving them into an immersive installation. The aim is to illuminate the profound spiritual bond between food and Mesoamerican traditional culture. Through the creation of a sort of colonial observation stance, Desirée's piece emphasises the contrasting approach to food prevalent in the global north, where it often becomes disconnected from its natural surroundings and reduced to a mere commodity.

By introducing the audience to alternative cultural approaches to food, Nourishing Resilience encourages reflection on the everyday products we consume, aiming to challenge the notion that food is merely a commodity.

Host or Publisher Masaccio Ranfagni