Shepparton Culture Kitchen Experience on 13 and 14 May

Food is about so much more than what we eat. Food is at the heart of culture, family and community. Food tells stories of our ancestors, of who we are now, and through sharing food together, we connect across cultures and generations.

Celebrating two years of working together, the women of the Shepparton Culture Kitchen offer this special opportunity for community to share in a diversity of flavours, stories and food cultures over two days at St. Paul’s African House on 13 and 14 May 2022.

Drawing on their own stories, cultures, traditions and contemporary influences, the women including Ane Fotu, Ree Peric, Shakilla Naveed, Eman Alabbassi, Yusniza Yusoff, Leaisa Pele and Agoness Kuol, have collaborated with artist Jamie Lewis, to explore and exchange food cultures and to develop this special program of participatory cooking, eating, storytelling and food culture experiences.

Try your hand at making a delicious Malaysian curry puff with Yusniza; gather in the makeshift outdoor Afghan kitchen for a communal cooking session with Shakilla; dress up for an intimate dinner, song and dance experience that traces Ane’s culinary journey from Tonga to Shepparton; learn the art of relaxing and slow, social sipping with Agoness’s traditional East African Coffee Ceremony; be inspired by stories of Ree’s transglobal upbringing as she performs a Fijian kava ceremony and serves up a meal of hearty, traditional dishes from her childhood home of Uganda; and more.

Explore and register for each of the events here:

Ane’s Tongan Kitchen | Friday 13 May, 6.30

Yusniza’s Curry Puff Making Workshop | Saturday 14 May, 10am

Ree’s World Kitchen | Saturday 14 May, 1pm

Agoness’s Guhwah | Saturday 14 May, 2pm 

Shakilla’s Homestyle Afghan Kitchen | Saturday 14 May, 3pm

Third Culture Kids Talk Food Culture | Saturday 14 May, 4pm (Invite Only)

The program will include screenings of the Shepparton Culture Kitchen digital stories created by local visual artist Mimi Leung. Featuring the Shepparton Culture Kitchen women, these short films beautifully capture their perspectives and explore the role that food plays for them in all aspects of health, including mental, emotional, familial and community.

Shepparton is the ‘food bowl’ of Victoria and a key food producer, yet paradoxically, faces high levels of food insecurity. Shepparton is also home to large culturally diverse communities, who although proud and strong, are disproportionately affected by structural issues creating health inequity.

Building on many years of work in the Shepparton region, MAV has joined forces with Greater Shepparton City Council and POD Studio to develop Shepparton Culture Kitchen, a significant arts initiative centreing the diverse voices of local diaspora communities, to build a future in which our communities are connected through empowering, healthy and sustainable food cultures.

Starting with a seed project in 2020, Shepparton Culture Kitchen has engaged an intergenerational, intercultural group of 8 local diverse women including Ane Fotu, Ree Peric, Leaisa Pele, Eman Alabbassi, Agoness Kuol, Shakilla Naveed and Yusniza Yusoff.  As experts in their own lived experiences, the women have been exploring ways that they can respond creatively to issues of food insecurity through building and diversifying local knowledge around food cultures and healthy eating.

Meet your Shepparton Culture Kitchen Hosts:

Produced by MAV, Greater Shepparton City Council and Point of Difference Studio, Shepparton Culture Kitchen is one of 4 initiatives supported through VicHealth’s Art of Good Health program. Drawing on Shepparton’s identity as Victoria’s ‘food bowl’ and most culturally diverse regional town, Shepparton Culture Kitchen is a significant arts program that centres the voices of diverse local women living in diaspora, to reimagine a future in which our communities are connected through empowering, healthy and sustainable food cultures.