Tainan is a city of foodies. In a nation obsessed by food, there is no city more obsessed than Tainan. So when, in 2023, we were invited on a residency at the Nanning Literary House (南寧文學·家), we decided to launch a project in public storytelling, looking at how our relationships with food reflect our history, our identity, and our everyday philosophies of life.
The project is called 滋養台南 | Nourishing Tainan, and you can see how it is developing on the project website. During our residency, we worked with members of the public to write stories about the things that nourish us: the food that nourishes our bodies, the stories that nourish our spirit, and the ideas that nourish our imagination.
As a part of the residency, we held a public afternoon tea event, where we invited passers-by to come and drink tea, eat home-made scones, and share their stories. And we finished the residency with a public workshop at the StableNice Café, to share our insights and stories — as well as to encourage those who came along to share their own stories.
Since then, we have continued working on the project, compiling a mouth-watering set of stories that also, as newcomers to the city, serves as a to-do list for things to eat. As relatively new arrivals here in Tainan, there can be a no more delightful way to make new connections. Because nothing connects like a cup of tea, a shared meal, or a shared story.
