Potato-Print Biennial Exhibition Planned for Nunhead with Mahama and Tiravanija Commissions

A curator is developing The Potato-Print Biennial, an exhibition featuring international artists creating works exclusively through potato printing. The show will be located in London's Nunhead area, specifically utilizing the Nunhead Art Trail and Nunhead Cemetery Chapel. Sponsorship is being sought from Tayto crisps, a Northern Irish snack company based at Tayto Castle in Tandragee. Two major commissions have been revealed: Ibrahim Mahama will cover Nunhead Cemetery Chapel with jute sacks previously used for transporting Irish potatoes, while Rirkrit Tiravanija will perform a relational artwork at Chai's Garden Thai restaurant, serving recycled potatoes used for prints as a reinterpreted Tom Yang Koong soup using a recipe from irishamericanmom.com. The exhibition's centerpiece will be a life-size reconstruction of Belfast Castle made from blighted Irish potatoes, erected in Nunhead's Victorian-era suburb. The curator cites inspiration from Documenta, Athens, and various European locations including Venice, Kassel, Stromboli, and Hydra. Maria Eichhorn is referenced for designing potato-print presses to reproduce historical records. The exhibition aims to address themes of colonialism, economic crises, globalization, and art's relationship with commerce, while emphasizing democratic artistic production through a common medium.