food justice

Gathering | women of colour on nature

1st November 2023Publications, Writingfood justice, nature

PUBLISHING IN FEBRUARY 2024.

“The beautiful rolling hills and coastlines are for all of us. Together, we can reimagine the British countryside (and all it represents) and make space so that everyone is welcomed.”

Gathering brings together essays by women of colour across the UK writing about their relationships with nature, in a genre long-dominated by male, white, middle-class writers. In redressing this imbalance, this moving collection considers climate justice, neurodiversity, mental health, academia, inherited histories, colonialism, whiteness, music, hiking and so much more.
These personal, creative, and fierce essays will broaden both conversations and horizons about our living world, encouraging readers to consider their own experience with nature and their place within it.

Fathoming Fungal Frequencies

16th October 2023Digital, Exhibition, Installation, Interactivefood justice, sonification, soundscape

This interactive sound experience seeks to uncover the existence of a shared language between human and fungi; giving a voice and making visible the mycelium network from which it fruits. By utilising interactive biodata sonification, which requires this inter-being collaboration, the piece hopes to connect human to more-than-human.

Part of MA Show 2023, School of Digital Arts (SODA) Manchester Metropolitan University. More info on the MA Shows Website

MA Shows 2023, opening event

Video Art by Shaheda Bacon Choudhury @brownspacepeople

What’s Eating Paradox

19th May 2021Commissions, Digital, Events, Exhibition, Installationclimate change, food justice

An Installation presented at Castlefield Gallery as part of ‘Obstructions’. Read more about this group exhibition on the Obstructions website.

Seeds on Earth

28th September 2020Installation, Performanceclimate change, food justice, soil

This live art piece asks you to plant seeds: to counter climate change; bioremediate for soil pollution; and to consider what seeds we need to feed ourselves.
To listen to the audio tracks click the playlist below:

Apple Seeds

Mustard Seeds

Pea Seeds

Participants encounter ‘Seeds on Earth’ by scanning a QR code using their phones. The audio poems instruct them to consider: what they know of the seed; plant the seed; and contemplate how this seed can counter climate change.

Presented at Hulme Community Garden Centre as part of Botanic, 2020.

Food Justice & Digital Art Projects

4th October 2019Digitalclimate change, food, food justice

An exploration of my food justice and digital art projects, presented at Sheffield Documentary Film Festival 2019

Join myself, community food expert Mama D. Ujuaje , Rick Watson of Sheffield Climate Alliance and food researcher Professor Bhavani Shankar to explore revelations, contradictions and journeys around food, where it comes from, how it nourishes us and impacts our health.

What’s Eating Our Reality

3rd October 2018Commissions, Digital, Interactive, Performance, Theatreclimate change, food, food justice

Set in an imagined future What’s Eating Our Reality is a three course meal with a difference. This intimate show explores the journey your food has taken from seed to field to table illuminating issues of food justice.

Host Maya Chowdhry orchestrates the ritual of dining and uses media art to gently immerse the audience in a new reality, one in which the food they love may be in short supply.

Show Information and Booking

Duration: Approx 150 mins.

BOOK TICKETS

Please note: We will be able to cater for vegetarians and vegans. Due to the nature of the show we regret we will not be able to cater to any other special diets or offer substitute food and/or drink for items provided as part of this event.

CREATIVE TEAM

Devised and Created by Maya Chowdhry

Chefs: Food Sketz – Alison Clare and Cat Smith

Video Systems & Programming : Andrew Crofts

Animator: Adam York-Gregory

Film maker: Ricardo Vilela

Sonic Seasoning: Caro C

Lighting Design: David McBride

Technician: David McBride

Producers: Leo Burtin and Alice Booth for Lancaster Arts

This project has been commissioned through Diverse Actions. Diverse Actions is a Live Art UK initiative which champions culturally diverse ambition, excellence and talent in Live Art. Live Art UK is a national network of Live Art promoters, of which Lancaster Arts is a member.

Slate Logo_Black + Orange With Strap
Supported by Eclipse through the Slate Play Pot Commission 2018 and, as ‘Peas on Earth’ (2017) by Compass Festival and Hab/Divergency

Gallery of Images from the Production
(show spoilers!)
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‘In a Relationship with Coffee’ receives funds from Future’s Venture Foundation

30th May 2018Commissions, Digital, Newsclimate change, food justice, relationship coffee

I’m very happy to announce that I have received research and development funding for ‘Coffee Justice’ from Future’s Venture Foundation – radical independent arts fund.

‘In a Relationship with Coffee’ (working title) is an innovative environmental art project exploring, producing and distributing stories of food justice from the mouths of those impacted on by food poverty, and from those working for global food justice.

It begins with a development project investigating the use of augmented reality as part of the eating and drinking experience.

For more information about this and my other projects check out my events page or social media.

Commonword Digital Literature Commission

17th December 2017Digital, Newsaugmented reality, climate change, digital, food justice, literature

My project ‘Heritage Carrot‘ has been awarded a digital literature commission by Commonword, Manchester. I will be collaborating with artist Kooj Chuhan of Metaceptive.

‘Heritage Carrot’ is a site-specific augmented reality (AR) poem which takes place at Hulme Community Garden Centre, Manchester, and uses the audience’s own smartphone combined with a free AR app, Aurasma, to navigate and view the poem.

Following the commision the photo above shows the final ‘Heritage Carrot’ artwork

The augmented layers will be activated using a marker attached to a plant label and positioned next to the carrot plants, thus the actual plant is augmented via content on the audience’s smartphone. The poem will be explored through a series of audio visual sequences that the audience interact with through the screen of their smartphone.

Rather than a visual interpretation of poetic language, or an illustration of the poem, the experience will take the audience through the layers of the poem, for example, an animated sequence of a seed dispersed through time, transforming in the earth it finds in each new country. The poem will use the metaphor of digging in allowing the audience to both interact with the poem and their surroundings.

Further information about the commissions on Commonword’s website

Compass Festival – Residency

11th September 2017Blog, Digitalfood justice, residency

This week I’m in Residence with Compass Festival, Leeds, exploring food justice from a local perspective. I began the week exploring Leeds Markets, thinking about how the food gets to the market and also who shops and eats here (v’s supermarkets). I visited Hyde Park Source – an Environmental charity – improving people’s health and wellbeing through improving the environment of local areas, and Dhali Cafe – a Pay as You Feel cafe, in association with The Real Junk Food Project.
Here’s some imagery of my visit (Chrome or Firefox browsers to view the 36o photos and videos).

Hyde Park Source – Grow Together