Emergency Hospitality

Emergency Hospitality
Walking Grass Agriculture’s presentation, pop up exhibition, food-sharing session

17.06.2026 (Wednesday) at 5 PM
Arsenal Gallery in Białystok
Adama Mickiewicza 2
free admission

In the last week of Walking Grass Agriculture’s residency at Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok, the collective will propose a presentation that will conclude their stay. They will start with a short slide presentation on some of their previous projects, then introduce the installation works and their residency plan, and conclude with a food-sharing session. Walking Grass Agriculture says: “Emergency Hospitality explores how food in Taiwan carries memories of both survival and hospitality.

In Taiwan, canned food has long been associated with typhoons, earthquakes, military tensions, and emergency preparedness. At the same time, canned ingredients gradually became part of banquet culture, Lunar New Year meals, and family gatherings. During Taiwan’s rapid economic development, canned dishes offered a quick way to create abundance, care, and hospitality for guests.
A similar transformation can also be found in the culture of edible weeds. In the past, many wild plants functioned as emergency food and survival resources during difficult times. Under Japanese colonial influence, frying gradually became part of Taiwanese cooking culture, and these once-survival-oriented plants slowly transformed into everyday vegetable dishes commonly served in mountain restaurants today.

This time in Białystok, we use Dandelion Tempura as both an action and a dish to reflect on how foods once associated with crisis, scarcity, and preparedness gradually became part of cultural memory, emotional experience, and contemporary cuisine.”