Goulburn Regional Art Gallery
Alexander Sarsfield
English Breakfast
“Sharing food is the central event when meeting new whanaunga. An offering of warmth, welcome and manaaki as I fumble through connecting to my grandfather’s culture and heritage as an adult. But as we come together around the table to share lifetimes of stories, it is hard to ignore the effects of assimilation for my whānau. We share the kai, the joy of familial reunion as well as the underlying grief and awkwardness from missed experiences.
English Breakfast sees the blend of traditional and non-traditional ways of making. Tabling the recent rise of anti-Māori policies in Aotearoa and a renewed push for assimilation, we must sit with these tensions. We are ready to eat.” –Alexander Sarsfield, 2024. Whanaunga – relations; Manaaki – care, hospitality; Whānau – family; Kai – food.