Opened 6pm Thursday 8 July by Dr Deborah Hill, Manager, International and Domestic Engagement, National Museum of Australia. The opening event featured live jazz performed by the Dylan Slater Duo, as well as fermented food tasting plates made from locally sourced ingredients, offered by the Southern Harvest Association.

Ferment is a collaborative exhibition by Canberra ceramic artists Isabelle Mackay-Sim and Teffany Thiedeman. The ceramic work being created for the exhibition addresses the theme of fermentation on levels both literal and metaphorical. As well as offering ceramic vessels for creating fermented foods, the artists present Ferment as an idea of fundamental change. The concept of fermentation has wide-reaching importance for our times. In a climate of environmental emergency, where wastage seems criminal, fermentation helps us to eke nourishment out of scraps, and preserve food for later. Microbial organisms ferment in our guts to affect both physical and mental health. Ideas ferment in the mind and within communities, giving rise to political upheaval and social change. Finally, after the personal, introspective fermentation of lockdown, many people are emerging fundamentally changed. 

Enjoy the work of these two Canberra ceramic artists in this thought-provoking exhibition.

There are a number of fermenting and clay workshops run concurrently with this exhibition. Check the links for details.