Telok-Ayer-Arts-Club-_Snail-Paradise
ABOUT THE EVENT
This event, ‘A Gastronomic Experience’ is an extension of the work ‘Snail Paradise’ by artist Chang En-Man at the Singapore Biennale. The event will begin with a demonstration by the artist on the preparing and wrapping of Cinavu (Taiwanese aboriginal millet dumpling with snails), followed by a reception of canapés prepared by Telok Ayer Arts Club from the artist’s Taiwanese aboriginal recipes and locally-inspired recipes.
The artist’s ‘Nusantara Archive’ limited edition publication will also be distributed for the first time ever to event attendees. The Nusantara Archive documents En-Man’s writing on snails as food as well as her interviews with local artists on culinary experiences as a part of their personal lives and their art practice.
$45 nett. Limited to 35 pax only.
To reserve a seat, please email contactus@telokayerartsclub.sg for payment details and a confirmation.
ABOUT THE WORK
In Snail Paradise, artist Chang En-Man retraces the route preceding the arrival of the Giant African Landsnail (Achatina fulica) in Taiwan. As the name suggests, this is a species originating in Africa and was introduced into Taiwan for farming as a food source during the Japanese colonisation of Taiwan in 1933. Although regarded as an invasive species and a pest which threatens agricultural produce in numerous other places like Hawaii, Indonesia, North Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, this snail became a regular feature in numerous indigenous recipes in Taiwan.
Snail Paradise follows Chang’s 2013 project, Snail Dishes Interview Program: Highway No. 9, where the artist documented indigenous Taiwanese snail recipes and their cultural significance. Following this episode, and armed with the question, “How can one make snails into food?”, Chang tracks the snail to its last point of departure prior to its arrival in Taiwan, namely Singapore, where the species still gets accidentally trampled underfoot on rainy days. With cooking as her field methodology and the snail as the medium, she collaborates with local artists in Singapore to explore attitudes towards the snail as an ingredient and experiments with the potential for its utilisation in ‘local’ recipes.
Website: singaporebiennale.org/art/chang-en-man
When: 23 Nov 2019, 12:00pm - 02:00pm
