INTERNATIONAL SUPPER CLUB COMES TO SUNNY BANK MILLS

Sunny Bank Mills Gallery in Farsley, Leeds is hosting a pop-up supper club like you’ve never been to before during its latest exhibition, Don’t Play With Your Food.

Don’t Play With Your Food invites you to take a seat at the table and rediscover the joy of food. Artists have long used food as a stimulus for their work and to hold a mirror up to society. The exhibition creates meaning with the humble cabbage and transforms simple things such as bread and milk into timeless works of art. It sees a collection of artists, chefs and craftspeople share the Gallery to celebrate how playful, gross and delicious food can be.

Anna Turzynski, Sunny Bank Mills’ Arts Director explained: “It’s summertime and we wanted our latest exhibition to inspire visitors regardless of their age. Don’t Play With Your Food is an exhibition born out of many conversations and is an invitation to reconsider your relationship to food.

I have always been fascinated by how artists use food in their work, and how the lines between chef, designer, scientist and artist can be blurred. So, I have invited lots of different people into the Gallery to play with the idea of eating, cooking and where our food comes from. You can expect melting ice cream sculptures, surreal cutlery, noodle soup portraits and a giant sandwich. The Edible Playground Supper Club is an extension of these ideas bringing fun and play into a unique dining experience.”

Created by artist, chef and academic Helen Russell Brown, Edible Playground is a playful rejection of table manners. Diners are invited to put their elbows on the table and take a trip down memory lane to rediscover the joy and nostalgia of food.

The menu is inspired by Helen’s own personal food memories from childhood and beyond. Full of warm familiar treats as well as some surreal culinary experiments. Diners are invited to sit at a sculptural tablescape and experience a meal that sits at the intersection between food, art and playgrounds.

Helen Russell Brown expanded: “We always seem to be looking for the next adventure, experience, or undiscovered place – how nice to sink back into nostalgia and rediscover the sticky memories of our younger years as a source of comfort and delight. Join us for an edible journey inspired by memories of classroom games, building sandcastles and a healthy obsession for knickerbocker glories.

I’ve always been fascinated with breaking the rules of the dining table, perhaps starting with ‘no elbows on the table’ at family gatherings. Having fun with food was always encouraged in our household though. Dad’s pea sandwiches (didn’t go down well at the time) and blue toast (impressed guests at sleepovers), and mum’s epic birthday cake scenes (think fairy castle complete with a foil moat) are some of my favourite memories of kitchen mischief.”

Helen is a culinary artist who knows that playing with her food is half the fun. She loves to whip up playful yet reflective food projects that connect people to both their internal and external worlds. Edible Playground is a work created exclusively for Sunny Bank Mills, and is the first event of its kind from Helen and her team in the UK. Helen will be joined by her culinary wife Talita Perfect, the other half of culinary studio Imaginaria.

Arts Director Anna Turzynski continued: “Edible Playground will welcome people into the Gallery after hours to enjoy a three-act meal like no other. The menu that Helen and her team have put together is totally plant based and unlike any dining experience I have ever had. It’s going to be a great evening of mischief and finger licking!”

The Edible Playground Supper Club will be on for 2 nights only – Friday 12th July and Saturday 13th July – and is a completely plant-based menu. Don’t Play With Your Food exhibition opens on Saturday 6^th July until Sunday 1^st September.

For more information and booking for the Supper Club: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/dont-play-with-your-food/