Bates College students and faculty, in collaboration with Museum L-A, will stage a “performative meal” at the Bates Mill on Sunday, May 18, reflecting the history, culture and politics of where we live.

Limited seating is available free to the public for “Savoring Androscoggin County: Food, Culture and Performance,” which will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Bates Mill Complex.

“A performative meal is not musical theater nor is it dinner theater, it is more performance art,” said Dr. Myron Beasley. “It is an event where food is both subject and object of the event. Food is always loaded with a multitude of meanings, and this meal will help us realize many of those layers of meanings as it relates to the history and culture of this county.”

The students are enrolled in “Food, Culture and Performance,” an interdisciplinary seminar examining the idea of cultural engagement through food. Taught by Beasley, students explore the meaning of food and eating across cultures, with particular attention food history and culture of Androscoggin County. The theme of the course mirrors the “America Eats” project, which was conceived and sponsored by the Works Progress Administration’s American Writers’ Project in the 1930s – but never published. The program dispatched famous American writers, photographers, scholars and filmmakers across the United Stated to survey not only what American culture was consuming, but also to comprehend the state of hunger, nutrition and sustainability in the United States.

During the course, Bates students are dispatched throughout Androscoggin County to work with homeless shelters, farmers, restaurants and social agencies to gather oral histories, local statistics and other forms of data.

The students’ research will be presented in the form of a performative meal under the direction of Beasley and chef, scholar and performance artist Richard Gough of the University of Wales in England. The food that will be presented is derived from recipes, stories, and other food-related events garnered from the students’ field work.

“We are proud to partner with Bates College in this fascinating approach to helping us better understand and archive our community,” said Rachel Desgrosseillers, Museum L-A’s executive director.

“Through the Oral History Project that Museum L-A has undertaken, it is evident that the work students do with us have significant value in helping us to document and celebrate not only the economic and work legacy but the area’s social history – which always seems to include food. This event is also helping us to fulfill our mission to connect generations,”she said.

Contact Jessada Govindasamy at [email protected] or 786-8296 to reserve a place.