Rendering heretofore invisible culinarians visible

March 5, 2022 4:47 PM

14 feet tall, nearly 30 feet wide, and composed of 406 handmade blocks, The Museum of Food and Drink's Legacy Quilt honors the countless African American food and drink producers who have laid the foundation for American cuisine. The quilt can be browsed and searched online in its entirety.

The project was led by Harlem Needle Arts, an “arts and cultural organization at the forefront of revolutionizing, preserving and expanding the narrative of fiber, textile, design, and needle arts in the African Diaspora.”

MOFAD’s current exhibition is African/American: Making the Nation’s Table:

African American contributions to our nation’s culinary culture are foundational and ongoing. For over 400 years, African Americans have inspired our country’s food through their skill, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Black foodways have shaped much of what we farm, what we cook, what we drink, and where we eat.

Additional online components of the exhibition include:

An immersive journey into the stories of African American farmer and herbalist Matthew Raiford and Jovan Sage at Gilliard Farms, and pitmasters Deborah and Mary Jones at Jones Bar-B-Q.

Mapping the Nation’s Table: The African American Legacy Foodways Project aims to highlight Black-owned food and drink businesses across the country, with a special emphasis on Legacy businesses: these farms, restaurants, and stores have been in operation for 50 years or longer and are still serving communities today.

posted by youarenothere (2 comments total)

This is really beautiful. I'd love to see it in person!!
Also I'm hungry now.
posted by emjaybee at 9:11 PM on March 5, 2022

So cool, thank you for posting this.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:25 PM on March 7, 2022