Kitchen & Kin

Joint project between Ms Terri Lethlean and WASSIC Inc

Kitchen and Kin is a creative arts & cultural research project that invites community conversations from Australian South Sea Islanders about growing, gathering, and cooking foods. The project will result in a series of intergenerational recipe journals.

The most important element of this project lies in the awareness that memories of food in families and communities always provoke stories that hold value considerably beyond the food itself.

The cultural and historical values in Kitchen and Kin are that these stories are descended from 1860's Kanakas who were significant contributors to Australian economic and cultural prosperity.

However, it took until 7 September 2000, when the Queensland Premier, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Speaker of the House formally recognised the Australian South Sea Islanders as a distinct cultural identity group. Federal government acknowledgment was 24 August 1994