For Chez Derriere’s final project, Food Futures, the gallery functioned as an explorative art restaurant for two nights, where diners celebrated, discussed and imagined the future of food with a group of inspiring collaborators and artists.
For Food Futures: Local Harvest on 2 December, artists and designers Adam Ben-Dror, Chris Berthelsen and Rebecca Swan imagined a collaborative and sustainable future, where food production could be localised and driven by communities.
Between courses at Food Futures: Local Harvest - ricotta stuffed melon flowers, kawakawa chips, fresh pasta made from Pam Adam’s eggs, herb pesto and seasonal fruit cake - diners enjoyed presentations and artworks from the three artists.
Elderflower water was served in Chris’ ceramic tea cups made at Titirangi-based Wood Fired Pottery School and Adam’s modular chandelier lit the gallery; made from foraged materials, discarded electronics and powered by an old car battery. Adam spoke about e-waste and reframing the concept of what is 'alive'. Rebecca shared her immersive video, Seeing the unseen, 2023, alongside a presentation about the ‘Whanau under our feet’ discussing compost, the soil food web and microscopy.
The fresh produce for the menu was sourced from community garden and urban farm partners EcoMatters Environment Trust, Ranui Community Garden, OMG Urban Farm, Growing Point Dignan Street Community Garden and Pam Adams Eggs. Foraged goods were also provided by Adam and Chris and produce was generously donated from people’s backyards and gardens.
A Food Futures resource list of how to get involved with our partners and collaborators can be found here
View the Food Futures: Local Harvest menu here
Read Their house, my garden: The do-nothing farmer, an article by Gabi Lardies about Adam Ben-Dror's farming philosophies and preparations for Food Futures: Local Harvest here
About the artists
Adam Ben-Dror
Adam Ben-Dror is a multidisciplinary artist, designer and inventor based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. With Xin Cheng he co-runs Local Making, a neighbourhood-scaled laboratory for living and making together amongst the more-than-human Anthropocene. Adam teaches design at the University of Auckland and is a facilitator with the Compost Collective. He studied fine arts at the University of Auckland, design at Victoria University Wellington and robotics at Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, USA.
Chris Berthelsen
Chris Berthelsen likes to explore environments for creative activity, resident-led modification of the everyday environment, and alternative education(s). He is based in Tāmaki Makaurau and often runs multi-layered public projects throughout Aotearoa and Japan which experiment with public/private space, Making Friends, working in public, trust and hope, and making-do with resources at hand. He is a co-founder of Activities and Research in Environments for Creativity Trust (Tāmaki Makaurau) and Tanushimaru Institute for Art Research (Fukuoka, Japan), and was Deputy-Chairperson, of the Mairangi Arts Centre Trust (Tāmaki Makaurau) (2017-2021).
Rebecca Swan
Rebecca Swan is a photographer, video artist and soil geek based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She is co-founder of Growing Point, a research education and innovation hub where they grow soil, food and community, from their base at Dignan St Community garden in Point Chevalier. Swan’s work has been published, exhibited and collected in Aotearoa and internationally. She won the S+ART award and in 2018 was awarded the Fulbright Visual Artists NZ Scholar Award.