It’s the 1970s, off the coast of Chi Ma Wan. A kaito ferry, heavy with Vietnamese boat people, sways in the water, headed toward a newly converted refugee camp.

Food here does more than quiet a hollow hunger; it’s a magnet for creativity and community. A salvaged oil drum from out on the open sea could become a pot for boiling congee, tinged with salty air and the lingering scent of diesel. Or some humble packaging might be transformed into a notebook canvas.

Iris Sham and Louisa Mammeri invite you on an interactive journey through this parallel world, to recall a fading memory through the language of food. Blending archives with living text, we are drawn to imagine how the human spirit, stripped of warmth, sustenance, and freedom, fights to hold onto its dignity.