Co-curated by Open Space Founding Director Huma Kabakcı and Artist Laura Wilson, I Have Eaten It was a 4-week kitchen takeover at Refettorio Felix, a charity based at St. Cuthbert’s Centre in West London providing creative experiences around food for vulnerable people. Over this period, Open Space created a tailored weekly meal using seasonal, and waste food, with recipes or ingredients, contributed by 9 international artists: Moza Almatrooshi, Sondos Azzam, Lauren Godfrey, Charles Harrison, Hannah Lees, Raju Rage, Nora Silva, Laura Wilson & Caroline Wong.

The evolving menu and culinary experience was accompanied by a programme of public events including Memory Foam: an artist-led bread-making workshop, a public screening and Sound Bites, a series of radio interviews In partnership with RTM.FM, a community radio station run by TACO!. The project also hosted a fundraising dinner cooked by renowned chef Chef Ramael Scully and artwork sales, with proceeds going towards Refettorio Felix.

I Have Eaten It explored food politics, production systems, and consumption. The project title referenced the story of artist John Latham’s 1966 ‘happening’, where he invited students to dismember a library copy of Clement Greenberg’s Art and Culture, at the time a tome on how to best make art. Together they chewed up the pages, collecting the remains into a jar which was then distilled with the pure spirit of Art and Culture, and returned to the library at Central Saint Martins in lieu of the book. Subsequently, Latham lost his job but the work was bought by MOMA, New York. I Have Eaten It took this provocative act as a departure point to spark discussion around the social politics of food, excess, or the lack of food and food systems through visual arts.

Photo credit:  Sam Nightingale & Wonderhatch

Supported by Arts Council England

Surplus food supply from Refetterio Felix

With kind support from Nicoletta Fiorucci Russo and Good Produce Ltd.