Zina Saro-Wiwa, Table Manners: Season 1 (2014-2016): Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, 2016
Table Manners: Season 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu playfully alludes to the historic colonial disregard for local eating practices. This video series celebrates Ogoni men and women from the Niger Delta region eating in front of the camera, highlighting the role of food consumption as a distinctive act in belonging to a community. The video’s subjects refuse voyeuristic impulses as they gaze back at the viewer, consuming and ultimately finishing their meal on their own terms.
Throughout Table Manners: Season 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, the eater’s performance punctuates silence with the sounds of appetite: savoring, sucking, swallowing, smacking. Audiences are forced to confront the uniformity of globalized food culture and attune to cultural distinctions between food and the body, as well as the self and others.
ZINA SARO-WIWA. Excerpt from the video series Table Manners: Season 1 (2014-2016): Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, 2014-2016. Digital color video, with sound, 5 min., 24 sec. © Zina Saro-Wiwa. Courtesy of the artist.
Español
La obra Table Manners: Season 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, alude con humor al histórico desinterés colonial por las prácticas alimentarias locales. Esta serie de videos celebra a hombres y mujeres ogoni de la región del delta del Níger comiendo delante de la cámara, destacando el papel del consumo de alimentos como acto distintivo de pertenencia a una comunidad. Los sujetos del video rechazan los impulsos voyeuristas y devuelven la mirada al espectador, comiéndose y eventualmente terminando su platillo bajo sus propios términos.
A lo largo de Table Manners: Season 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, el performance de la comensal acentúa el silencio con los sonidos del apetito: saborear, chupar, tragar, masticar. El público se ve obligado a enfrentarse a la uniformidad de la cultura alimentaria globalizada y a sintonizar con las distinciones culturales entre la comida y el cuerpo, así como entre uno mismo y los demás.
ZINA SARO-WIWA. Extracto de la serie de videos Table Manners: Temporada 1 (2014–2016): Barisuka Eats Ice Fish y Mu, 2014–2016. Video en color digital, con sonido, 5 min, 24 seg. © Zina Saro-Wiwa. Cortesía de la artista.
Kreyól Ayisyen
Table Manners: Sezon 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu fè alizyon sou neglijans istorik kolonyal la pou pratik manje lokal yo. Videyo sa a selebre gason ak fanm Ogòni nan rejyon Dèlta Nijerya kap manje devan kamera a, epi mete aksan sou wòl konsomasyon manje kòm yon zak kominotè. Sijè videyo yo pa kite ke se telespektatè a selman kap gade l, zye l fikse sou kamera pandan lap manje epi fini repa l lè l vle.
Nan tout fim Table Manners: Sezon 1: Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, moun kap manje a mete aksan sou silans avèk son yo nan apeti: l ap degiste, souse, epi vale. Odyans la oblije konfwonte inifòmite kilti manje globalize epi adapte ak distenksyon kiltirèl ant manje ak kò a,ansanm ak pwòp tèt ou ak lòt moun.
ZINA SARO-WIWA. Ekstrè ki soti nan seri videyo Table Manners: Season 1 (2014-2016): Barisuka Eats Ice Fish and Mu, 2014-2016. Videyo koulè dijital, ak son, 5 minit, 24 segonn. © Zina Saro-Wiwa. Koutwazi atis la.