What Why How We Eat

From fish and fiddleheads to salmonberries and Spam, what gets plated in Alaska feeds our collective identity as much as it does our individual palates. This 4,200 sq. ft. exhibition looks at how Alaskans connect with each other and the land through food. The exhibition presents an expanded view of the vital cultural role food plays in the North, referencing the quintessential Alaskan home kitchen of the 70’s, diverse community and tradition, innovation, climate and the future of food in the Arctic.

What Why How We Eat tells the changing story of food culture in Alaska—from the subsistence whale hunt in Point Hope to the Halal market in Anchorage—through filmed interviews, art installations, utensils, tools, recipes and food.

The exhibition provides an accessible and familiar space for learning about food within Alaska’s rural and urban communities. In-gallery kitchens, living rooms, and gear sheds provide an interactive environment for learning about how food is produced, preserved and shared within Alaska’s diverse. From hydroponics to chest freezers, audio triggered cupboards and drawers, cutting boards and vacuumed sealed labels, unconventional means of content delivery offer variable experiences that engage visitors from a wide range of backgrounds.