“I started with £250, I bought a box of Ackee, a box of callaloo, box of yam and box of sweet potato…”
Junior, market stall owner
London’s African and Caribbean food businesses are not just about buying or selling. They are vitally important spaces – untangling questions around politics, culture, heritage and resistance in an ever-changing city.
From shopping centres to street corners, from market spaces to living rooms, entrepreneurial food businesses have thrived across South East London.
This free display at the Museum of London Docklands spotlights four African and Caribbean businesses and their owners, exploring how they are much more than the services and goods they provide. The businesses featured are:
- Livity Plant Based Cuisine
- African Cash & Carry
- Junior's market stall
- Zeret Kitchen
Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place includes recipes, objects and recorded stories from the business owners Kaleema and Kareema Shakur-Muhammad, Eugene Takwa, Junior and Tafeswork Belayneh, along with TikTok and Instagram cooking videos of traditional African and Caribbean dishes with a contemporary twist. The display also showcases newly commissioned photography by Jonas Martinez and an original soundscape by Kayode 'Kayodeine' Gomez.
Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place
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Cooking inside Zeret Kitchen in Camberwell. Image: © Jonas Martinez/Museum of London
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“If you share food together, that means you have to be loyal to each other” Tafeswork Belayneh, owner of Zeret Kitchen. Image: © Jonas Martinez/Museum of London
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Livity Plant Based Cuisine’s dutch pot. Image: © Museum of London
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Produce at African Cash & Carry London in Woolwich. Image: © Jonas Martinez/Museum of London
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“I find that my personality is different when I am in my little box” Junior. Image: © Jonas Martinez/Museum of London
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Angry Black Kitchen Jollof Rice. Image: © Angry Black Kitchen/Museum of London
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Plantain on sale. Image: © Jonas Martinez/Museum of London
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Ethiopian coffee pot from Zeret Kitchen. Image: © Museum of London
Download the free Smartify app to explore more stories behind the display – open your phone, scan the objects, and you’ll discover even more exclusive content.
Feeding Black: Community, Power & Place is part of the museum’s Curating London contemporary collecting programme, with funding from Arts Council England
