Cường Phạm, Ghost & John, Jessie Jing, Monica Tolia, Songsoo Kim, Taey Iohe & Youngsook Choi

Have You Eaten Yet? with Cường Phạm, Ghost & John, Jessie Jing, Monica Tolia, Songsoo Kim, Taey Iohe & Youngsook Choi

(Exhibition) 

Studio 101 Courtyard, 1 Resolution Way, London SE8 4NT

“Have you eaten yet?” is equivalent to “how are you?” in many Asian cultures. This question carries a tangible, direct sense of care towards one’s livelihood & health, which often leads to impromptu food sharing. In line with these ethics of reciprocal care and hospitality, Have You Eaten Yet? will create an affectionate healing space for the local community during Deptford X Festival 2021, built through excavated stories, interventions and performances celebrating radical expressions of Asian joy.

The opening night will see the Studio 101 courtyard transformed by a series of performances from the artists, with the traces left from each performance comprising the exhibition during the festival.

Over the course of the exhibition, the audience will have a grasp of the traces of these performances and further activate them by enjoying the letters, stories, food sculpture, the remnant scent, and making DIY music albums.

The exhibition ends with the durational performance ‘There Are Gods Around Us’ by Ghost & John, an extract from their previous work “Meniscus”. This durational performance is a devised work by each of the performers, where they tell stories about the imaginary gods they write up, and perform a made-up ritualistic dance of the god. Taking reference from East Asian mythology, traditions and rituals, it is a queer and Asian work that looks into what hope means in our age of great instability and crisis.

Have You Eaten Yet? is curated by Jessie Jing, Monica Tolia and Youngsook Choi from the Deptford X Peer Network, an evolving group of Black and POC artists and arts organisers affiliated with Deptford X.

Instagram:

Cường Phạm @phambinho | nts.live/shows/phambinho

Ghost & John @ghostandjohn | ghostandjohn.art

Jessie Jing @jingely | thedisoriental.com

Monica Tolia @mon_tolia | monicatolia.com

Songsoo Kim IG: @kim_songsoo

Taey Iohe @taey.iohe | taey.com

Youngsook Choi @young.sook.choi | youngsookchoi.com