As a part of “Undoing the Archive” a seven hour event on January 31, 2025 that was an activation of “an archive and/or a repertoire” at Tufts University Gallery, SMFA, I toasted homemade bread and buttering it for people to eat while we talked about different models for storing and sharing knowledge and how they transmit personal and community values across historical time. We spoke about the vulnerability of official and institutional archives in times of war or political shift, and the relative resilience of informal archiving practices that are represented by the sharing or recipies and fermentation “mothers”. If people wanted to, they will be welcomed to take some sourdough starter and/or an informational text designed to accompany it as a memento of the conversation/a functional yeast/a (literally) living archive. The text (download brochure here) shared the history of the 30-year old sourdough starter that I had been able to trace (I acquired it in 2015, but it was created in 1997) through the network that gave it to me, along with instructions for feeding the yeast, and an invitation to connect to an Instagram profile (@astro_leavener) where images of baked goods produced by the starter are shared. After the performance, the crumbs generated by slicing and buttering bread/toast were displayed in the exhibition through April 20, 2025.
Photos by: Lani Asuncion, Olivia Slaughter and Joanna Tam.