Join us for a 3-day exhibition exploring the queerness of compost in all of its iterations. From food to theory to photography, this programme of events takes an experimental deep-dive into why compost is inherently queer, and what we might learn from it from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Organised by food artist Barney Pau, photographer Hannah Morgan, and curator Caitlin Fleming, this exhibition will take a trans-disciplinary approach to creative research, exploring the theme of queer compost from numerous artistic perspectives.
As part of our programme, we will host a panel discussion with editor/researcher Helene Schulze, grower Dee Pascal-O’Mahoney, artist/writer Sophie Seita, and researcher/curator Georgia Perkins.
The exhibition will also feature a hand-dyed ‘compost quilt’ by the maker/mender Bronwyn Opland.
The exhibition will be open to the public each of the three days, while also hosting a series of events. Expect everything from rot-inspired eating installations and compost-developed analogue photography, to a hand-dyed ‘compost quilt’ and much more.
We want this exhibition accessible to all. This is made possible by charging for our food event, whose profits will fund the show. If you'd like to help more there's an optional donation any amount is greatly appreciated!
About the organisers:
Barney Pau [@barneypau, barneypau.com](he/they) is a culinary artist and writer focussing on food futures, queering consumption, and foraging and fermenting as social resistance. Using food as his medium, he specialises in developing unique and specific menus which reflect the themes of his research, or his collaborators’ practices.
Hannah Morgan [@hannahmarymorgan, hannahmorganphoto.com](she/her) is a visual artist currently studying and living in Bristol, UK. Using predominantly analogue photography and sustainable plant-based processing, her work explores ecology, ancient memory, human relationships and the interconnected nature of our planet.
Caitlin Fleming [@flemboyant_flemingo](they/them) is a curator, artist, and researcher working and living in London. Their current curatorial research surrounds the intersections between queer theory, notions of hosting, food, and ecology and how this may allow us to imagine possible futures.
About the speakers:
Sophie Seita [@sophieseita, sophieseita.com](she/they) is a London-based artist and researcher whose work swims in the muddy waters of language and is informed by deep listening, critical opacity, queer abstraction, and a playfulness that’s both rigorous and pleasurable. Sophie performs and exhibits work across multiple media, publishes books, makes textiles and graphic scores, leads experimental workshops, and with Naomi Woo runs The Hildegard von Bingen Society for Gardening Companions.
Dee Pascal-O’Mahoney [@growingqueer](they/them) is an organic food grower working in East London. Interested in the practice of growing whilst inflicting as little harm as possible and maximising the joy that growing can bring.
Helene Schulze [@helene_schulze](she/her) is a writer and editor on food, growing and social justice. She is currently in the middle of a PhD in urban seed entanglements, colonial plant histories, and border politics. She is part of the grassroots collectives London Freedom Seed Bank and the Garden of Earthly Delights and is editor for the food-based publication The Preserve Journal.
Georgia Perkins [@perkigeo](she/her) is a London-based curator and researcher. She is a teaching fellow in Media Practices at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, curatorial fellow at SIRIUS, Ireland, and a doctoral candidate in the Visual Cultures Department at Goldsmiths University of London. Her current research is focused on how contemporary art practices translate molecular politics into sensible terms.
About the contributors:
Bronwyn Opland [@idle__hands__](she/her) is a London-based textile artist with sustainability, circularity and foraged materials as the basis of her practice. In her work, she engages with several social justice-focused causes, using fabric to foment change.