Mai Ling Collective, “We All Eat Dirt”, performance
7 & 9 June 2022, 19:00
POP UP, VIENNA FESTWOCHEN, ARCHIVE
Mai Ling Kocht is a series of oral, auditory, and haptic performances tapping into the evolution of Asian food through mobility. Taking place in both physical and virtual realms, Mai Ling experiments with conviviality inviting participants to descend into a deeper exploration of food — its stickiness, its histories, and its politics. By tending to our desires for comfort and pleasure, food transforms beyond mere sustenance to a medium that satiates what was lost through migration. Through performative interactions with food, Mai Ling deconstructs oppressive structures and stereotypes — those that have been superimposed and reproduced — as a means for survival and protest.
For this iteration of Mai Ling Kocht at Pickle Bar, Mai Ling serves a selection of fermented and pickled foods originating from East Asia — cheap, dirty, and preserved. Reversing the logic of sour and spoiled foods, Mai Ling creates a political argument that is contrary to Western cultural constructions of the East: “We All Eat Dirt”