Food for thought at Crawford Art Gallery

There are plenty of family-fun events to enjoy in the Cork venue this Halloween break

Fifth class pupils from Scoil Ursula, Blackrock, Cork City, attending a workshop at Crawford Art Gallery in conjunction with the exhibition Meat and Potatoes.

In one of the greatest mysteries of art history, dating all the way back to the 17th century, Rembrandt somehow painted an amazingly realistic Asian elephant despite having never left his native Netherlands in his life.

While it was long told that Rembrandt had painted this elephant without ever having seen one in the flesh, many historians now believe he actually saw one for a fleeting moment, while the animal was on a European circus tour. Even so, to capture the elephant in such detail, from a single memory alone, is an astonishing feat in itself.

It’s a fact that brings Anne Boddaert, a curator at the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, great joy and comfort, as it encapsulates just how strongly our experiences of seeing something beautiful — whether it be a living, breathing elephant or a portrait of one — can affect us.

It was this desire to get back to the joys of experiencing art in the flesh that inspired the Crawford’s latest exhibition, Meat and Potatoes. In many ways, as the title may suggest, the exhibition is all about hunger, but not just for food. 

Ann Boddaert (right) is pictured with Mary Mc Carthy, opening the Meat and Potatoes exhibition. 

“We’re definitely still noticing how eager people are [post-Covid] to have new experiences and see something fresh and exciting,” Anne shares. “We’ve actually had very strong visitor numbers this past summer, which is fantastic as we're back to the record-breaking numbers we'd had before Covid.” 

What’s definitely enticed these large crowds, even more so than any post-pandemic itch, is the huge variety of what’s on offer through Meat and Potatoes.

With stunning food-themed pieces lining the walls of the exhibition space, as well as regular activities being hosted in the Meat and Potatoes project space — including bread making workshops, cake decorating classes, and a host of artist talks — there truly is something for everyone at Crawford thanks to the new exhibition.

“Meat and Potatoes has been a success in connecting more people not just to Crawford, but to galleries and museums in general,” Anne notes. “We always try to appeal to a broad audience and make the gallery and the work inside it something that will ignite the imagination of as many people as possible. As a civic space, that's what it’s all about for us.” 

People of any and all levels of artistic ability can avail of a guided tour that will suit them at Crawford Art Gallery.

As a civic space, Crawford also prides itself on opening its doors as wide as possible, welcoming whoever may want to enter. There are no barriers or criteria to gain entry — it’s a space where people who are entirely new to art and galleries can fit in just as well as seasoned artists, and where guided tours to suit any of these levels are readily available. Best of all, however, is that all aspects of Crawford and its programmes are 100% free to enter, view or attend.

“Crawford is free for everyone, year round,” Anne explains. “It’s such a wonderful asset to have bang in the city centre here in Cork. Once people come in to us, they tend to come back again and again, so I think we really can offer something for everyone if they give us a try. If people are any bit curious, or if they just want to take a nice break while they’re busy running errands in town, then they can come in to the gallery and find things that will excite and surprise them.” 

The theme of food, which Meat and Potatoes is hinged upon, is something that any number of people can tap in to in unlimited ways, says Anne. Here, Tatiana Dobromyrska and Adam Stead are pictured at the opening of the exhibition.

This mission of appealing to all parts of society has also been a driving force behind Crawford’s Learn and Explore initiative, which Anne is the head of, and which aims to make the gallery’s programmes as diverse as their audiences. Learn and Explore also makes these programmes as accessible as possible, with free Sunday activities to encourage play and exploration for intergenerational audiences regularly held at Crawford, as well as a teen programme that aims to encourage confidence and experimentation. In addition, regular visiting groups to Crawford include adults in further education, organisations that support seniors and mental health service users.

Meat and Potatoes, Anne explains, is a perfect example of an exhibition that can interest all these groups and more, as the themes are so universal.

“The first time we did something similar [to Meat and Potatoes] was for our ‘SEEN, NOT HEARD’ exhibition and the accompanying SEEN, and HEARD playspace, where families and young kids experienced an emphasis on playing and experimenting in their own joyful way. That whole project was based on the theme of childhood, as we were trying to find themes that would generate a lot of common ground. Just like we all need to eat, we all were children at one stage and we all have memories of childhood — from games, fun, freedom, to sadness, misery, traumatic events, anything! It’s the same with food, people can relate at any level, which is really what inspired Meat and Potatoes.” 

That playspace has temporarily been transformed into a Meat and Potatoes project space these days, where visitors have been free to create their own food-related drawings and artwork to display on the project space walls, and where workshops, guest speakers and events of every other nature have been hosted since the exhibition opened in July.

This public interaction with Meat and Potatoes is something that Anne was especially looking forward to whilst putting the exhibition together.

Visitors young and old are welcome to create their own masterpieces in the Meat and Potatoes project space. Here, Lily O'Sullivan is pictured working on a still-life of fruit and vegetables.

“When the idea came to me of focusing an exhibition on food, it was during the first lockdown and my daughter was experimenting a lot with food. She was one of those people who tried the sourdough bread and all those other trends. I really noticed more people like her were starting to talk about which foods they were making at home, and the idea of food for comfort was very much to the fore. I could see that idea with my daughter and my friends, and even with some people who would never have cooked before, but who were really missing the restaurants and the conviviality of eating together. Someone told me about how their neighbor had left some apples and a cake at the gate for them, and at the time it was really important to people, that while we couldn’t see each other we could still do small gestures to say we were thinking of them. Bringing food was quite a moving act. That was probably the starting point, all these warm and comforting associations with food, but then as we were selecting and devising for the programme things took quite a turn.

“The cost-of-living crisis that we’re now experiencing, the war in Ukraine and issues of supply of food and fuel, all those things became factors that I realised we had to acknowledge within the project. Those darker subjects came into much sharper focus, because they were featured so much in the news and the media all around us. So one of the biggest challenges actually was finding the right balance. We wanted to address those very real, bleak topics but we had to bring in the positives as well.” 

The walls of the Meat and Potatoes project space are often covered with drawings from the children who visit.

This blend of themes that range from bleak to comforting, serious to childlike, is one that’s been masterfully crafted to create the Meat and Potatoes programme. Since the project was unveiled in July, visitors to the Crawford have experienced everything that can possibly be food related, from child-friendly, tactile bread making workshops, to more serious elements of the programme, such as Abigail O'Brien and Mary Kelly's work ‘How to Butterfly a Leg of Lamb’ which Anne guarantees will draw a squeamish reaction not only from vegetarians, but anyone who picks up on the feminist messages that lie behind the piece.

It is just one of many pieces that must be seen to be believed — and there’s never been a better time to see any of them, as the exhibition wraps up early November! In particular, Anne suggests, the upcoming midterm break may be a perfect time to take your family in to explore all that the Crawford has to offer.

“There is even a special Meat and Potatoes event taking place on Halloween evening, where you can learn about (and perhaps even sample!) some of the traditional dishes associated with the traditional Irish Halloween, Samhain,” she grins.

It was green thumbs up all round from ( L to r) Darragh Burns, Mark Cahill, Oisin Morey and Fionn Coleman, who enjoyed their time at the gallery.

There’s plenty else to enjoy at the moment, too, including;

• Food Price Crisis (Thursday 27 October 5pm) In the midst of plenty, a large, silent minority are experiencing hunger. Food inflation has pushed the price of foods up by over 5% in the past two years. Meanwhile, one in five Irish people is living in poverty after housing costs have been accounted for, according to Social Inclusion Ireland. Join UCC public health nutritionist Janas Harrington and others for an evening discussion on the impacts of food poverty in Ireland.
• Samhain: The Origins of an Irish Halloween and The Festive Foods of Humans and Fairies (Monday 31 October 3–5:30pm) After a whole growing season, it’s time for the Crawford to dig their spuds and pick their kale! Join food and culinary historian Regina Sexton and UCC folklorist Dr Jenny Butler for a hands-on afternoon in which we will dig spuds and cook up a batch of colcannon while discovering the traditional dishes of the festival. Jenny will explain the pre-Christian and folk dimensions of an Irish Halloween and Regina will outline the role of food in the festival. Suitable for all ages, and if you’re going trick-or-treating straight afterwards, fancy dress is welcome too!
• Food Futures (Friday 4 November 6–8pm) Say farewell to Meat and Potatoes with an exciting closing evening of bite-size, TED-style talks on the future of food, accompanied by some surprising nibbles. Introduced and moderated by sustainable food systems advocate Ruth Hegarty. 

To find out more about what’s happening at Crawford before Meat and Potatoes wraps up on November 6th, visit www.crawfordartgallery.ie