Tastes Like Sunshine

Museum of Brisbane

18 August – 12 November 2017

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Under the sun and along the river, the subtropical sprawl of Brisbane has long been a delicious site to dine. Tastes Like Sunshine, the Museum of Brisbane’s (MoB’s) recent exhibition, samples a selection of this culinary history and contemporary food culture. A mixture of art, photography, historical documents, artefacts and fashion, the exhibition is centred around work from artists Elizabeth Willing, Carol McGregor and Sean Rafferty; some of which has been commissioned specifically for the show.

Drawing inspiration from local food history and culture, the artists in Tastes Like Sunshine have engaged with a diverse set of materials. The most experimental example of this comes from Elizabeth Willing. Using chocolate to draw, charred marshmallows to paint, and local produce to create wallpaper, Willing has playfully engaged with food as both a muse and medium. While as a whole Willing’s work is charming and nostalgic, some pieces provide a conduit to more nuanced and challenging discussions. An example of this is Dark (2017), a chocolate mural that references the darker histories of Queensland’s early sugarcane industry. Sitting alongside a selection of contemporary and historical photographs and paintings, viewers are encouraged to consider the ways in which food, particularly the production of it, has been linked to exploitative practices.

At the centre of the exhibition a collection of intricately illustrated possum cloaks are on display. Black Seeds (2016), a cloak depicting bush tucker native to the Brisbane region, is a work by Brisbane-based artist, facilitator and Wathaurung woman, Carol McGregor. Through her extensive research into the Aboriginal practice of possum cloak making and wearing, McGregor found a history of possum cloaks in South-East Queensland. Dedicated to reviving this traditional craft and

Sean Rafferty, Cartonograph (Market Place), 2017. Cardboard fruit cartons, timber and fixtures. Photograph Jo Thies.

Brisbane Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members and Carol McGregor (Wathaurung, artist, facilitator), Bush Tucker, 2017. Possum skins, cotton, ochre, ash, resin and binder. Photograph Jo Thies.