Gillian Kayrooz is a multidisciplinary artist from Western Sydney who lives and works on Gadigal and Dharug lands. Kayrooz is currently exhibiting her 2022 work From the Palm Of, as part of the 3^rd Bankstown Biennale: Same Same/Different. The video work explores food traditions and culinary practices from various cultures as vital elements able to foster connections, a sense of belonging and to preserve cultural identity across generations.

Same Same/Different brings together works from 17 leading First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse artists, including Gary Lee and James Tylor, peers that Kayrooz deeply admires. Curated by Coby Edgar, Jason Wing and Rachael Kiang, the exhibition explores multiculturalism, identity and interconnectedness.

Karina Dias Pires: Same Same/Different investigates the potential for different cultural identities respectfully coexisting and finding common ground. How does From the Palm Of explore multiculturalism and interconnectedness?

Gillian Kayrooz: I actually started filming From The Palm Of in 2022. The central theme of the work being food and culinary traditions as means to explore cultural sustenance, culinary gathering and fostering connection across multiple generations. The film started as a single channel which was later shown on repeat at a street festival in Lidcombe. When I was invited by Coby Edgar, one of the curators of the Biennale, I immediately knew I wanted to expand on this existing work, which has always felt atemporal, exploring the concept that food traditions bind families, strengthen intergenerational ties and nourish community.

So, my focus was to not only celebrate the local community centre but shine a light on Auburn’s multicultural makeup. There was the responsibility of documenting the local community with integrity and then sharing it with a wider audience reaching beyond Western Sydney, allowing a diverse range of readings.

KDP: Who were your participants and collaborators?

GK: The participants were members of the Auburn Community Centre, which is a vibrant space in Western Sydney, where the community really comes together and people regularly gather for different reasons—Jum’ah (Friday Prayer), social gatherings, community garden members, or volunteering roles.

We made an open call and invited eight community members to cook a dish which was of personal and cultural significance to them. We had a mother and son who were Afghani, and they contributed with kabuli pulao a popular Afghan rice dish, a few Turkish participants who made tabbouleh, another Greek participant who offered dolma, a Greek dish made of vine leaves. A Chinese husband and wife who offered handmade dumplings with the help of their mother, and a final Fijian participant who offered a pandan coconut jelly dish and some beautiful and intricate roses of pandan leaves, which were made in a matter of minutes. Once we finished filming, we gathered around the table with additional community members, and enjoyed these generous and abundant dishes.

KDP: Can you share more details of From the Palm Of’s production?

GK: The Auburn community centre was transformed into a collaborative space, where participants turned food preparation into a gestural and expressive act. The video work was filmed using a hand-held camera and a second camera was suspended over a round table, as a two-channel video split into two scenes. The dishes were prepared over several hours, and close-ups captured the many hands at work and the complex techniques behind each dish.

The film duration is 1 hour and 27 minutes, and for this work I chose not to use sound. I wanted to move away from the typical associations of food videos, so the experience wouldn’t be dictated by prescribed noises, allowing the viewer to have their own sensorial experience.

KDP: What do you hope viewers will take from From the Palm Of at the Biennale?

GK: The work honours Auburn community centre’s complexity as a space that fulfils diverse needs—from offering essential support to fostering connection and a sense of purpose for all who gather there.

I hope my work is a canvas for self-reflection. I want to encourage connectedness, diversity, inclusiveness and sustainability through my practice. I am showing a project which I started in 2022 and revisited in 2024, and I hope the viewer can see my work as being able to exist in multiple places or points in time. I think it is an exciting prospect to be able to build on existing histories and practices.

The artist would like to thank participants and collaborators Syed Amin Zada, Saida Badreddine, Aysel Bilgic, Yin Lan Ge, Pat Sukokundan, Birgul Tavli, Wayne Wang, Xiaoli Yu.

Same Same Different – 3rd Bankstown Biennale
Bankstown Arts Centre
On now—1 February

Gillian is hosting the following roundtable discussion to coincide with her work:
From the Palm Of: A Roundtable on Food as a Cultural and Community Catalyst
Bankstown Arts Centre
Sunday 19 January