The Norwegian and Sri Lankan cultures I found myself growing up between were two separate entities, different in their languages, norms, and food. These differences could often seem incompatible, and with a foot in each culture, a sense of otherness and exotification would be a near constant, eventually leading to vague sense of cultural identity.

How can media be used to explore otherness and exotification, and to reclaim and embrace this as a part of one’s identity as a biracial person?

Through the project I wanted to explore absurdities and differences in two cultures that are not regularly combined. A Mukbang is a broadcasted video where the host invites the viewers to watch them eat. Using the concept of a Mukbang allowed me to utilise food, already heavily exoticized, as a tool to explore these cultural absurdities and differences. Combining different frames and zoom-ins invites the viewer to participate in something resembling a personal ritual.

Each of the videos have a focus on a dish, or dishes, from the specific culture. One Sri Lankan meal with sambals, sothi, idli, idiyappam, rolls and more, and one Norwegian meal of meat cakes with potatoes, gravy, and stewed peas. By also incorporating elements of the other culture, such as waffles with brown cheese or mixture, I hope to explore ways of reclaiming and embracing my own cultural identity and play with the exotification of certain foods.

Found sound is also incorporated into the videos, mainly from online Mukbang videos. What happens when we separate sound from image, especially something usually connected to specific acts and specific foods?