As we continue to develop the heritage displays for the Dining Room, we are thinking about how we share the stories and memories connected to particular objects. Working with artist Camara Pinnock, the group have made zines of their food memories as well as participated in audio recordings, cooking and talking about the food they are making. Museum staff have recorded the oral histories of a number of the group, capturing their personal stories that contribute to the wider history of Rochdale.
For this week’s session, we took a look at some work by artists who explore food heritage through writing. We read an extract from Jasleen Kaur’s book ‘Be Like Teflon.’ In the book, Jasleen interviews different women in her extended family, asking about how they learnt to cook and the dishes they make. The conversations over making particular foods touch on questions of patriarchy, cultural expectations and familial trauma. The everyday act of cooking is a vehicle to explore and unpick complexities within our relationships both with others and ourselves. Following reading Jasleen’s work, the group wrote accounts of how they each learnt to cook and memories of interacting with different family members.