Cooking With Leon（2024）
一顿晚餐


The workshop comes from the casual conversation between Regina and Leon, who was one of the Windrush Generation from Jamaica to London and spent time in and out of hospitals and prisons, now a barista at Redemption Cafe and a training chef.  

When Leon asked Regina what did she eat in the morning, she answered “Dumplings” with an unconscious explanation “which is a traditional food in China.” Then Leon said “No way, this is a Jamaican food.”  We showed each other the dumpling picture in our memory, and found there was much more behind the simple coincidance.

In the exploration of where does the dumpling come from, we find that the food becomes the silent witness to the Sino-Jamaican connections around 1920s. The dumpling and noodles brought by the Cantonese labors to the Carribean plantation became integrated to the local food culture, transformed into the hybrid form of dish.

In Leon’s life experience, food at different stages of life has a special meaning, and food is also one of the ways he communicates with others. We decided to plan and initiated this cooking workshop together, in recognition of the potential of food activating hidden transcultural connections, and uncovering an alternaive memory.





 一顿晚餐海报 Cooking with Leon Poster 






Leon的手写菜单  Leon’s Handwritten Menu  



和Leon一起做饭，影像截图，3小时37分钟，工作坊，2024
Cooking With Leon,  Film Screenshots, 3 hours 37 minutes, Workshop, 2024