Preserving Practice
Join Next Wave’s NSW Artistic Director Marian Abboud and Kickstart artists ‘An.Other Collective’ for a hands-on pickling workshop. Explore the history, science and secrets of the ancient art of preservation.
Working with flavours from Southwest Asia and the North African region, you will be guided through the 4000-year-old method originating from the Tigris River in Mesopotamia.
Marian and ‘An.Other Collective’ will incorporate stories of resistance, land and generational wisdom through the lens of food preservation (‘salt as an archive’). Consider how knowledge is preserved and what is lost in creating future worlds. Draw from the past, as we sit in the now, to create the future.
Participants are invited to bring in something they’d like to ‘archive’ within the pickling process. It might be a quote, a conversation, a moment of realisation, a family story, a secret or a hope for the future.
Time: 1pm
Duration: 90 minutes
Location: narrm ngarrgu Library
141 Therry St, Melbourne
Level 3 Outdoor Terrace
Access information
- The library is physically accessible with lifts across all 3 floors. You can get to the library by tram, train or car. Entry to the library is step-free. Inside there is a hearing loop, lifts and accessible bathrooms.
- Auslan interpreting is available upon request. We require 48 hours’ notice to provide Auslan interpreting for an event. Please make a note when registering for tickets.
- Download the narrm ngarrgu Library transport and parking information (.docx)
- Download the narrm ngarggu Library transport and parking information(.pdf)
Visual story
Download the narrm ngarrgu Library visual story(.docx)
Download the narrm ngarggu Library visual story (.pdf)
Other info
- Ages 18+
- This session is limited to 25 people.
- Each participant will make a jar of delicious homemade pickles to take home. All materials and instructions will be provided. All skill levels are welcome. No experience is necessary.
- Hand sanitiser, gloves and face masks will be made available.
- This session takes place on the outdoor terrace so please wear warm clothing.
Supported by 
Marian Abboud
(Next Wave 2024–25 Artistic Director, NSW)
Marian Abboud is a Western Sydney-based artist working across technology and ancestral platforms. She creates complex narratives by engaging with the community to build multi-layered socially responsive projects using curiosity as the springboard for cultural exchange and developing collective learning opportunities through creative expression. She is passionate about forging connections and creating meaning across perceived borders of place, language and identity.
An.Other Collective
(Next Wave 2024–25 Kickstart participant)
An.Other Collective is a community of female Muslim makers, artists, and designers from Sydney and Melbourne. They are an open platform that gathers and weaves the diverse perspectives of individuals and communities to dissolve colonial barriers and reductive misconceptions on matters associated with faith, politics, identity, art and culture.