Merienda and Tambay (Afternoon Tea and Hang Out)

Special Event
5 April 2025
A group of people gathered around a wooden table filled with bowls of colourful ingredients, assembling halo-halo drinks.
A group of people gathered around a wooden table filled with bowls of colourful ingredients, assembling halo-halo drinks.

ACE invites you to spend an afternoon feasting with artist Alyssa Powell-Ascura, emerging curator Chira Grasby, and Shared Skin Curator, Rayleen Forester.

When

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental

5 April 2025

2:00pm to 4:00pm

Access

Taking its cue from Jumana Manna’s film Foragers Powell-Ascura will host a relaxed merienda (afternoon tea) exploring and discussing food as a tool for cultural preservation and continuation.

Participants are encouraged to bring a family heirloom or food related item, and a story they are happy to share with the group regarding it, or they can simply observe and listen along.

This participatory table conversation invites attendees to share their own personal stories of food and family, in an open and inclusive setting. 

Building on Powell-Ascura's performance and video work Kain Tayo (Let’s Eat) (2024–ongoing), the afternoon merienda aims to foster meaningful dialogue where memories of family recipes, migration, and cultural traditions can unfold organically. 

Whether speaking, listening, or simply snacking, participants are encouraged to reflect on how food connects us to our histories, shaping our shared identity and belonging across generations.

Feature Image: Kamayan: Alyssa Powell-Ascura (2024), workshop documentation, The Mill Adelaide. Courtesy the artist.

Curator

Rayleen Forester

Emerging Curator

Chiranjika Grasby

Workshop Artist

Alyssa Powell-Ascura

Exhibiting Artist

Jumana Manna

Jumana Manna’s film Foragers (2022) will be screening at Mercury Cinema every Thursday. We encourage you to see the film before this event–screening times at the link below.

Support

This project is supported by Arts South Australia and Mama Sita's.

ACE tampinthi, ngadlu Kaurna yartangka panpapanpalyarninthi (inparrinthi). Kaurna miyurna yaitya mathanya Wama Tarntanyaku. Parnaku yailtya, parnaku tapa purruna, parnaku yarta ngadlu tampinthi. Yalaka Kaurna miyurna itu yailtya, tapa purruna, yarta kuma puru martinthi, puru warri-apinthi, puru tangka martulayinthi.

ACE respectfully acknowledges the traditional Country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and pays respect to Elders past and present. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today.