Foodie game show shaking up the status quo

'eaters' is part live performance, part pub quiz because 'we all have skin in the game' when it comes to food.
A crowded pub where four figures with big smiley face headwear sit near a table.

Perth’s pvi collective (which has a preference for lower case styling) is calling on foodies and eaters for its latest live performance. Why? Because food is the most vital resource for the survival of humankind, but there aren’t enough critical discussions around it.

eaters is a ‘live performance in the guise of a pub quiz’ that upends the status quo on what we eat, how we eat and the impact of these choices.

Food enthusiasts are invited to get into groups of four or eight across two nights in Margaret River (23 June) and Esperance (2 September) to play in a live quiz that will prompt them to radically rethink the status quo.

chief executive artist and pvi co-founder kelli mccluskey says: ‘From the people who grow (food), to the ones who consume it, along with the powers that control its production and future survival, we all have skin in this game.

eaters provides insights into the world of agriculture from the perspective of farmers, First Nations experts, authors, physicists, conservationists and eco-activists to question if a change of diet and farming practices can ensure the future of the planet.’

eaters employs gaming devices to engage people in the big questions around food security amid a climate crisis. Homegrown hosts tomás ford and andrea gibbs will guide participants throughout the night, while recorded guest voices highlight the gloomy reality. Participants will hear from political journalist Gabrielle Chan, physicist Vandana Shiva, the Noongar Land Enterprise group, former Greens
senator turned writer Scott Ludlam, and Boorloo singer songwriters Odette Mercy and Gina Williams.

Originally commissioned by Wired Lab in regional NSW, the live art project offers a hopeful look to the future. eaters will arm the audience with knowledge to help forge a way forward and plant a seed for change.

Read: $5 million museum kitchen and culinary curator

As a 2022 audience member eloquently puts it: ‘… eaters is like Spicks and Specks only with a conscience and you get to be on the panel with the buzzer.’

Par of the proceeds from June’s event will go to local not-for-profit Margaret River Community Pantry, which redistributes good food otherwise bound for landfill to those in need.

eaters will be presented on 23 June 7.30-9pm at Margaret River HEART and on 2 September 7.30-9.30pm at Esperance Civic Centre.

Celina Lei is the Diversity and Inclusion Editor at ArtsHub. She acquired her M.A in Art, Law and Business in New York with a B.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Melbourne. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Most recently, Celina was one of three Australian participants in DFAT’s the Future of Leadership program. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram @lleizy_