International Stomachs
Ghent, Belgium | February – September 2024

Watersportbaan, a social housing estate built in Ghent, Belgium in the 1960s, is surrounded by water, winding roads, and green spaces, yet the district is isolated from the city. Declining retail infrastructure – particularly a lack of supermarkets – poses an obstacle for many residents, with the area becoming known as a “food desert” by locals. Along the same canals that run through Watersportbaan, De Goedinge, a local bio farm, passes each week, distributing fresh vegetables across the city by solar-powered boat.

International Stomachs emerged as a way to research food and land justice in relation to the city’s waterways. I took part as an artist, curator, and facilitator, working alongside a team of collaborators.

In the first phase, drawing on our predominantly migrant backgrounds, we organised a series of culinary interventions in the neighbourhood that used food as a tool to explore heritage. This was followed by a procession through the area, during which we planted vegetables, exchanged stories of origin, and recorded wishes for how the neighbourhood might become a more fertile ground for those who live there.

We then hosted a day-long communal meal, set between the housing blocks and interwoven with stories and speeches exploring local food mythologies.

The project concluded with an event centred on the surrounding waterways, featuring concerts, cooking, walking tours, boat trips, exhibitions, rituals, and workshops by both artists and residents.

The various phases of this project were created in collaboration with Campus Atelier, De Koer, Anna Schlooz, Lucrecia Wang, Phoebe Vandercammen, Anastasiia Sharoshkina, Maryam Alirezabeigi, Diede Roosens, Eva Samyn, Futurefarmers, Viernulvier and KASK. With big thanks to everyone who participated.