Exhibition: The House of Ferment

The House of Ferment is a project created by Grizedale Arts in collaboration with Science Gallery London. The mobile installation will be popping up at Borough Market to celebrate the launch of a season of activity looking at our relationship with food and the future of food production.

The collection centres on a series of specially fermented cultures, traditionally used in food preservation, that have been cultivated over the last decade at Grizedale Arts’ farm HQ.

The process of fermentation goes back hundreds of years, but it is making a global comeback and is now the latest craze to excite chefs and foodies across the world. Do you know your kombucha from your nuka, or your kimchi from your borscht? Join Science Gallery London as we explore the fascinating, microbiological world of fermentation.

Science Gallery at King’s College London is to launch FED UP: The Future of Food, their 2015 experimental arts and science programme, at Borough Market on Tuesday 7 July. Opening the programme will be the House of Ferment, a multi-functional arts installation incorporating a collection of edible fermented cultures that explores and discusses the processes behind food preservation.

Billions of bacteria have been carefully nurtured and developed into six different cultures, each of which produces a distinctive flavour. The cultures have been used to create over 30 peculiar and pleasing products.

Visitors will be encouraged to try a range of the fermented products, including sourdough, several kimchi (of Korean origin), nuka (a Japanese bran pickle), local milk cheese and yogurt, nettle ‘champagne’, pickled cucumbers (of Polish origin), sauerkraut, borscht and more unusual products such as kombucha.

In the installation, the fermented foods are combined with functional elements by selected artists, including a bespoke table by the 2013 Turner Prize winner, Laure Prouvost, and an inimitable vessel by the artist Bedwyr Williams. Further functional works by Sarah Staton and Giles Round are augmented by a new range of kitchen equipment created by Grizedale arts and the village of Coniston.

The installation will act as a hub for a variety of workshops, talks, performances and a pop-up café.

The House of Ferment launches on 7 July and is open to the public until Saturday 11 July. Throughout the week, visitors can pop into the daily buffet lunches to sample the products and cultures and can attend talks and workshops on the history and future of fermentation and food preservation.