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Chamber of Chillies
Decolonising history, one pepper at a time
The Chamber of Chilliesdecolonises the history of chilli-peppers through transmedia storytelling. Using the chilli as a starting point, the project explores the connectivity and commonalities shared by cultures worldwide, breaking stereotypes while interrogating the colonial history that saw the ubiquitous spice spread globally. The final outputs of this research are transmedia and multimodal: animated video, song, AR experience, recipe blog and website, combining historical research with future technologies to weave narratives that explore intrinsic togetherness through the past and present of chilli-peppers.
The Idea
The Chamber of Chillies was originally called the Pepper Project (henceforth referred to as thus) in a strange but fitting parody of scientific research naming as the explorations undertaken were not genetic but cultural and historical. We weren’t
researching chillies to hybridise them for breeding and cultivation but rather hybridise them for decontextualising and decolonisation. The initial point of inspiration for the Pepper Project was to exchange recipes addressing commonalities shared
by cultures worldwide and breaking stereotypes, and in its earliest stages, the transmedia collection was envisioned as a conversation between three chilli-pepper cousins from across the globe who have never seen each other before.
The Chamber of Chillies was originally called the Pepper Project (henceforth referred to as thus) in a strange but fitting parody of scientific research naming as the explorations undertaken were not genetic but cultural and historical. We weren’t
researching chillies to hybridise them for breeding and cultivation but rather hybridise them for decontextualising and decolonisation. The initial point of inspiration for the Pepper Project was to exchange recipes addressing commonalities shared
by cultures worldwide and breaking stereotypes, and in its earliest stages, the transmedia collection was envisioned as a conversation between three chilli-pepper cousins from across the globe who have never seen each other before.
FROM SMASHING STEREOTYPES TO DECOLONISING
As the Pepper Project blossomed in scope, it was obvious that the conversation couldn’t only be contained to stereotypes.
We cannot discuss stereotypes without thinking about categories of ordering and a discussion on categories and hierarchies
inevitably brings in knowledge production and exchange. Recognising the relational intricacy, the Pepper Project addresses
these multi-layered complexities through its transmedia approach. At the heart of the Pepper Project is the desire to decolonise the exploitation of the chilli as a mere commodity and reformulate our understanding of the crop and its influence on cultural exchange. Regardless of the variety of spiciness in them, peppers are universally recognised as a beloved flavour enhancer.
Therefore, using peppers as a medium was an easy and apt choice. In its current iteration, the Chamber of Chillies is a transmedia storytelling project with animated video, song, AR experience, recipe blog and website, combining historical research with future technologies to weave narratives that explore intrinsic togetherness through the past and present of chilli-peppers. For the purposes of the course, the project culminated with an open-house exhibition which invited audiences to participate in the AR experience and enjoy the recipes shared on the website
Set Up
3D Renders
Building a museum without walls and borders:
The Augmented Reality experience expanded on the idea of the virtual museum to decolonise peppers and started by talking about where the peppers came from and how the colonial expansion spread them to other locations through trade routes that exploited communities. Creating space for play and education, the AR experience takes users through the world-map, tracing the route and major pit stops that the chilli followed in its journey around the globe. Research into the Columbus Exchange, the Spice Trade and routes followed by merchants were undertaken and cross-referenced to find the most accurate information on the patterns followed in the dissemination of chillies globally.
Website for recipe archives:
The Chamber of Chillies website works as a liminal space in an archival capacity, allowing the diverse nodes of the project to find common ground. The website was conceptualised to act as a wrapper to pull together all the various transmedia pieces, to hand over from one media to another, one learning to another.
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