Community-engaged project, 2015

Shako club (or social club) is a project initiated with the grunt gallery, and created in collaboration with members of Tonari Gumi (Vancouver’s Japanese Community Volunteers Association), an association serving primarily Japanese Canadian seniors and new immigrants to Canada. With a signature investment in both collaborative and improvisational energies, the project spanned 3 months in residence at Tonari Gumi, working in their commercial kitchen to create recipes and culinary sculptures set in the traditional Japanese bento box that acknowledge equally the influence of cultural background, history, taste, aesthetic value, and an abiding love of snacks. The bento boxes were gifted to 60 lucky participants who received their individual bento box based on answers from a questionnaire that was available online.

Presented by the grunt gallery, curated by Vanessa Kwan as part of the grunt gallery’s 30th anniversary programming. Partnership with Tonari Gumi and the Asian Canadian Studies Society.

Other links: A short video on Shako Club by Kayla Isomura. 

This project was funded through the support by the grunt gallery, Imagine B.C, City of Vancouver, Asian Canadian Studies Society, and Tonari Gumi.