吃饭 (Chi-Fan) is a visual arts / heritage studies project tracing the intimate stories and migration of family recipes across the contested “Chinese diaspora”.

Materialising as a minigame, audiences enter animated kitchens which are vivified by interviews between young people who identify as a member of the Chinese diaspora and their relatives about a family recipe. Each kitchen features: audio ruminations about the recipe; photo essays of the cooking methodology; the dish’s cultural significance; and intimate vignettes of domestic spaces.

By playfully weaving these interpretations of a ‘family recipe’, 吃饭 (Chi-Fan) presents an alternative version of the ‘Chinese diaspora’ - beyond surnames, passports or dialects. The project gives licence for the interrogation of who defines cultural history.

This artwork is by Dylah Goh, illustrated by Amy Ge and coded by Jane Fan. It is a part of the Aftertaste exhibition at Fairfield City Museum and Gallery.