Kyam hosted her first workshop with the group introducing them to oral history. Oral history, the recording of people’s stories is a central part of her creative practice. Kyam shared two definitions of oral history
Definition 1: “Oral history is a method of conducting historical research, through recorded interviews, between a narrator with personal experience of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of adding to the historical record.”
Definition 2: “Oral history involves telling the stories people tell about themselves”
For Kyam, telling the stories people tell about themselves is what drives her practice. For the workshop, she invited the community curators to undertake a series of exercises that focused on recalling some of their earliest and happiest food memories. Walking back into individual memories, thinking of the ingredients, tastes, textures and spaces of eating as well as the smells, sounds and atmosphere was an emotive task. The group shared memories that were connected to family, to feeling a sense of belonging and the people that were central in their childhoods, from being cared for when sick to, to making tea on an open fire, to eating together at the end of the day and fried breakfasts on a Sunday morning.
The happy memories came hand in hand with a sense of loss, loss of traditions, loss of community and loss of family and friends. Holding the space and guiding the group Kyam ensured everyone’s stories were heard and they were given the space and support they needed to voice their memory and share their associated grief. Amongst the grief, there was lots of laughter, recalling lively gatherings, the idiosyncrasies of individual’s – the particular visitors that would loudly slurp their tea, the struggle to eat a 12 course traditional Christmas meal, the scolding of a parent for using a recipe book instead of knowing a recipe by hand or the fear of making uneven chapatti’s and using pan lids to ensure they are circular!