Mine, Yours, Ours — Kitchen and Familial Stories

“People migrate carrying with them remembrances of joy and burdens of life. Departing their homelands forcefully with grief and resistance or willingly with dreams and hopes for freedom, safety and bread. The new land belonged to someone else — it was stolen, and generations of cultures were erased due to genocide. With gratitude and compassion to the original inhabitants, we now call this land home. We seek to acknowledge the colonial injustices, and racial exploitations as we explore uncharted territories. We embrace, adopt, adapt, and adjust to cultural climatic shifts, barriers, and expectations. Many communities choose to acculturate by preserving their ancestral heritage, native language, familial values and traditions, while many others take refuge in cultural denouncement and assimilate. Our cultural roots connect us with our histories which could be comforting or horrid, glorified or marginalized, celebrated or stereotyped. Our cultural experiences are bound with our communities and our home, preserved in our memories, and passed down as seeds for generations to reap. our kitchens tell our unique story. The way we eat, the ingredients we buy, the utensils we use, the foods we cook and serve, the familiarity of tastes are influenced by our ancestral cultural roots and amalgamated identities. Food is an expression of our cultural experiences and emotions. It brings people together during joyful celebrations or sorrowful moaning moments.

Food binds us socially to build community and foster a sense of belonging. It is a catalyst for creating cross-cultural awareness, understanding, appreciation, and respect. Food is the first level of digesting another culture. The juried call "Mine, Yours, Ours — Kitchen and Familial Stories” invites artists, designers, and performers based in the United States to submit their distinctive ways in treasuring their traditional food recipes while exploring adaptive methods of cooking. What are their kitchen stories and familial traditions? How are their ancestral or indigenous foods cooked and shared with others? What are the challenges or marginalizations encountered by them for sustaining their familial food traditions for future generations to embrace? How is food consumed for sustenance during joy or conflict or despair at home or in their communities? How do they bring diverse communities of people together, establish belonging, and promote hope through food?“

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