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Paper short abstract

Spice Jam was a one-time curated fusion music show exploring how sound and the metaphor of spice evoke cultural memory, sensory belonging, and public imagination. This paper reflects on curatorial practice, affect, and the symbolic layering of flavor in sonic encounters.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores Spice Jam, a one-time curated music show at Grow Hackney that brought together diverse artists to perform fusion music inspired by the metaphor of spice—its sensory qualities, cultural symbolism, and layered histories. Drawing from sensory ethnography and affect theory, the project reflects on how sound and flavor intersect as vehicles of cultural memory, identity, and belonging. Each musical act was designed not only as entertainment, but as a multisensory dialogue—where rhythm, texture, and improvisation mirrored the way spices blend, contrast, and carry meaning across geographical boundaries.

As the curator, I reflect on how the metaphor of spice shaped the curation process: not only in genre or instrumentation, but in how the audience was invited to listen—to feel the complexity, hybridity, and cultural movement in the music. From Hindustani ragas fused with jazz to Afro-Latin rhythms, rock music, and West African energy, Spice Jam created a space where everyone actively participated in imagining and re-imagining the past and the future simultaneously. The show became a civic gesture—a temporary but powerful space of cultural encounter, where the intangible work of art fosters imagination, connection, and collective reflection.

This paper invites a rethinking of curatorial practice as a form of cultural storytelling, where the metaphor of spice does not just flavor the sound. Additionally, it deepens the way we listen, sense, and belong.