Capital artist residency

Culinarialism by Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers)

 
“Party with villains (Part 5)... The guests arrive at the gilded manor of Lord Robert Sidney to much excess, fanfare, and sentinels, at Belhaven. All under the watchful eye of Proteus, god of the waters, and his celestial attendants. Belhaven, Virginia. 1794.” by Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers)

“Party with villains (Part 5)... The guests arrive at the gilded manor of Lord Robert Sidney to much excess, fanfare, and sentinels, at Belhaven. All under the watchful eye of Proteus, god of the waters, and his celestial attendants. Belhaven, Virginia. 1794.” by Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers)

A residency-culminating exhibition imagines a Colonial Era fête of global dignitaries (with anachronistic pop culture references like a basketball game and BBQ) whose arrival feast is interrupted by an uprising led by enslaved people.

Attendance Details

  • Gallery Hours (subject to change): Friday-Sunday from 12-6pm

  • Dates: Friday Sept. 24—Nov. 21, 2021

  • Location: Sandlot Southeast (Get Directions)

  • Take the Virtual Gallery Tour

  • Free Admission, Donations Welcome

  • Hosted by Sandlot Southeast, in partnership with MRP Realty

Exhibit Information

Culinarialism, specifically focuses on class dynamics of food while poignantly acknowledging the DC area’s problematic history as an epicenter of inhumane international trade practices. The show utilizes the narrative framework of a ritzy dinner party attended by colonizers and visiting global dignitaries—the ultimate embodiment of how food that’s available exclusively to a privileged class has always reached their plates at immense human and environmental cost. While researching during his residency, Rashid learned about harmful recurrences that span history, from mass enslavements for the sole purpose of food production, to various iterations of the contemporary issue of how quinoa was an Andean nutrition staple until global trends drove prices up to an extent that precluded its regional accessibility.

In the events depicted across the exhibition’s 17 works, Rashid punctuates the wealthy dignitaries’ feast with an uprising led by enslaved people. The show’s six large paintings, which feature anachronistic pop culture references like a game of basketball and a barbeque, detail various sequential stages of the event: the preparation and reception of goods; the hunting of animals; the parties and dancing; the meal itself; and the uprising that ends the festivities, assisted in part by divine intervention from the Yoruba gods. The second grouping, eleven wood-mounted, ink-onpaper works that have undergone a tea-pigment aging process, includes smaller pieces like regional maps and portraits of Belhaven (the fictional region’s titular colonizer) and his associates, as well as portraits of the opposition movement’s leadership.

COVID Safety Measures

As we return to in-person programming, its important that we’re prioritizing the health of CulturalDC staff, artists, and audiences. Our team is fully vaccinated. We will continue to update our protocols to keep up with the latest regulations and vaccine rollout.

 

Installation Photography

by: Vivian Doering

 
 

Press Release

L.A.-based Umar Rashid (a.k.a. Frohawk Two Feathers) Awarded CulturalDC’s Inaugural Capital Artist Residency

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Thanks to our generous sponsors and partners to making the Capital Artist Residency possible. Our lead sponsor is Amazon, and housing is provided by Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners.

Corporate: Amazon (Lead Sponsor), Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners (Housing Sponsor), Bank of America, Foulger-Pratt, Studios Architecture, Mars, Eaton, Community Three Development, CastroHaase, Hoffman, City Chic Real Estate, Events by Andre Wells, Sandlot Southeast, and MRP Realty

Individuals: Phyllis and Barry Caldwell, John D. Mason, Michael Abrams, Anita Ayerbe, Schwanda Rountree, Molly and Rick Rolandi, Paul Clary

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