Huma Kabakcı(b. London, 1990) is a Turkish-British curator, writer, custodian of a family collection, and former founding director of Open Space Contemporary, living and working in London. She graduated with her BA in Advertising and Marketing at the London College of Communication. She completed her MA & MPhil degrees in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London.
Kabakci has worked in many capacities at commercial galleries, biennials,museums, and auction houses in the UK, Turkey, and internationally. Her curatorial interest lies in creating immersive experiences and a broader dialogue in collaboration with multidisciplinary practitioners. Kabakci’s key areas of interest and knowledge focus on diaspora, gender and identity politics, social impact, food as a medium, and hospitality. She is currently studying for her second MA in Anthropology of Food (part-time) at SOAS, London, and guest lectures at Sotheby’s Institute, specifically on collection management and the global market.
Joanna Wierzbickais a Polish-born London-based artist working across photography, sculpture, video and installation. She graduated from ECAL (École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne) and University of the Arts London. A recipient of the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship, her work has been shown at Saatchi Gallery, Split Gallery, Bomb Art Factory Foundation, Generation & Display Gallery in London, Fort Institute of Photography in Warsaw, Jedna Dva Tri Gallery in Prague and Espace Arlaud in Lausanne. Wierzbicka works across sculpture, photography, and installation, with a particular focus on fabrics—used clothing, printed, or dyed textiles. She creates sculptures that explore the interplay between soft/hard and tension developed through the genre of body horror, where forms resembling intestines, organs, organisms and monstrous shapes emerge. Food has been a recurring element in her work, serving as a material starting point. Wierzbicka gathers organic waste, forage, and collects friends’ hair after haircuts, approaching this process with the care and attention of a meal preparation. These materials are either developed into physical objects, photographed and then printed to create a new sculptural form, or used as dyes.
Niyanta Sharmais an artist and architectural designer with Indian heritage, who is also the founder of Playte - a gastro-architect collective who use local food as a tool for collective healing. Her work is rooted in community—creating site-specific experiences that explore the intersection between art, architecture, and the politics of food.