Between October and December 2022, artists Dana Olărescu and Noemi Gunea collaborated on Food Resilience, a series of weekly workshops debating food politics with Londoners of Eastern European heritage. 

Commissioned by POMOC, and generously hosted by Calthorpe Community Garden, the project explores food, plant, and cultivation knowledge-sharing as a tactic to withstand and organise during the cost of living crisis. How do economics and food politics intersect, and how can we act on the insights acquired on our migrant journeys?

Alternative economics became an underlying theme. Participants bonded through their shared ancestral fears of famine, violence, and invasion, while dreaming of wider networks of mutual aid. Selected artists were also invited to facilitate the sessions. Artist and educator Magda Fabianczyk invited everyone to make a ‘democratic soup’; performance artist Anca Dimofte asked for soil regeneration pledges during the Day of the Dead celebrations; and fine artists Olha Pryymak and Lika Tarkhan-Mouravi debated Eastern colonialism through the prism of Georgian tea. 

A final public-facing event took place in December, with contributions from artists, activists, food lovers, therapists, and other community members whose paths crossed at Calthorpe Community Garden. These included learning about setting up food co-operatives, reflections on migrant land workers’ rights, and navigating daily stresses.

The workshops informed a zine which is freely accessible here.

Commissioner: Polish Migrants Organise for Change Curator: Marta Marsicka Partner organisation: Calthorpe Community Gardens Zine content and design: Noemi Gunea and Dana Olărescu

Photo credits: Anca Rusu, Kate Wiliwinska (POMOC), Noemi Gunea, Nefeli Kentoni