“Eat Little and Live Long” is a new archive; a gathering that merges food, dance, and storytelling; an opportunity to engage with artists and supporters of my work; a way to share and to practice; to make good on the ancestral knowledge to transform stories of loss into tales of togetherness.

 

Food is a continued part of my artistic practice. It has been at the center of the Institute’s development. There is a recipe for my late Aunty Girly’s Fish Pelau in my Master’s dissertation called “How to Take Night and Make Day” - a recipe for food that is delicious and - and, as per the title - tied to the wisdom of my ancestors. “Ingredients and structures of cooking are not carried in the genes, but come from historical experiences shared among peoples and across generations.” After “the fire”, these recipes are some of the few remaining tangible artefacts of my family history; a memory that combines experience, practice, and replicability.

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- Makeda Thomas, 2019

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In 2021 - from 5 June to 4 September -  "Eat Little and Live Long" was realized as a Backyard Performance Series for which 22 dance artists and their collaborators were invited to the home of dance artist, Makeda Thomas in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Performers included Fana Fraser, J. Bouey, Thomas DeFrantz, mx oops, Shamar Watt, Brotherhood Dance, Chris Walker, Andre Zachery, Michelle Gibson, Gabri Christa, Obika Dance, Jean Appolon, Pagwah Mas, and Jade Charon.