VICTORIAN AFTERNOON TEA: CATERING TO A GREATER AUDIENCE THROUGH MULTISENSORY PROGRAMMING

Program Reviews | Dominica Tang

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My sister's favorite thing to do in a museum is sleep. To be fair, some of the benches are rather comfy and the galleries can be awfully quiet. I, on the other hand, would join the museum equivalent of a Tuscan wine tour faster than you can say "you don't have enough money, Dominica!" I get it though. Museums just do not appeal to everyone. Some people are not interested in reading the text panels or studying the artefacts and specimen. However, their perspective is still valuable to the museum. It might not always be that they are not interested in the content, but that the way in which museums present that content is not interesting enough. Multisensory-rich programs can accommodate for these visitors, create entry points into the exhibits, and, potentially, change their relationship with museums.

Last summer, I was tasked with planning a week-long family trip to London, UK. In the effort to make our trip meaningful and worthwhile for the entire family, I strategically selected only a few museums that I thought best catered to both mine and my sister's interests. One such museum was the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) because it offered a unique opportunity to try Victorian Afternoon Tea. This program was created by Tasha Marks, an award-winning artist, food historian and founder of AVMCuriosities, in partnership with Benugo, a catering franchise that brings food to different public spaces in a creative and sustainable way. Marks is a wonderfully talented curator and artist,  who holds an interesting perceptive on museum programming and story telling. With exhibitions called 5318008 (Boobies spelled backwards) and The Edible Archive, it is no wonder that she has captured the attention of so many well-established museums and formed partnerships with them. Her immersive and multisensory programming captured my sister's interest in new food experiences and made her visit to the museum an ounce more memorable.

Photograph courtesy of Benugo.

The Victorian Afternoon Tea program costs £30 per person with the option of upgrading to the Prosecco Afternoon Tea for £35 or Champagne Afternoon Tea for £38. It takes place every Friday between 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm in the Morris Room and requires a reservation via email. It comes with every item on the menu and unlimited tea! The lemon and elderflower tea was my favourite by far and I drank a few pots worth of it. Yes, a few pots worth. Marks’s curation of this collection of bite-sized Victorian foods from the second half of Queen Victoria's reign balances sweet and savory dishes, and more familiar recipes and lesser-known ones. They range from Crayfish and Mayonnaise Sandwich (1890) to the spongey Victoria Sandwich (1901). 

Menu Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum. 

Gooseberry Tart (left) and Lemon and Seed Cake (right). Photograph courtesy of Benugo.

It is quite pricey and, certainly, not for everyone. However, it highlights how the sociability of food lends itself to developing dynamic museum programming that effectively engages with a wider variety of audiences. It especially caters to visitors, such as my sister, who are seeking novel experiences to share with their friends and family.

At the most superficial level it serves the experience economy. Food programming, however, is far more than a tourist attraction; it has the potential to be pedagogical, immersive, accessible, artistic, experimental and, overall, an asset for engagement in informal learning spaces. Mark's curates multisensory environment creates a quasi-simulacrum of Victorian aristocratic life that encourages full-bodied learning without the visitor being fully aware of it. This article is a testament to the fact that this program has truly stuck with me and that I still think about this absolutely scrumptious experience several months later.

The choice of location is, though in the most subtle way, a significant factor to the success of this program. The Morris Room, originally called the Green Dining Room, is located in the 19th century refreshments center. William Morris, an activist, interior decorator, a champion of artisanal methods of production over industrialization, and an artist who was commissioned by the museum to decorate the Green Dining Room with light green wall paper, teal wood paneling, and stained glass. The V&A also display Morris's work throughout the rest of the museum.  In this way, the room doubles as an exhibit that is not unlike the ones in the main halls. In addition to the continuity of Morris's art, the Victorian foods carries forth a pedagogical and historical significance aligned with other museum artefacts. This pocket within the museum creates an environment that is conducive to boisterous  discussion, infused with delicious smells, and wholeheartedly encourages hands-on learning, all the while respecting visitors who prefer silent meditation in the gallery spaces or have allergies.

Morris Room at the V&A. Photograph courtesy of Benugo.

Indian Ham Sandwich (left) and Nasturtium Open Sandwich (right). Photograph courtesy of Benugo.

Working in living history museums where the multisensory programming is embedded in the exhibition spaces and speaking with other food studies enthusiasts, I wanted to see larger institutions move away from the current model of separating food and exhibits and to adopt this type of environment.  The symbiotic relationship between Marks's artistic program and the Morris Room demonstrates that it can be done in a way that accommodates for all types of visitors.

The Tang family post-afternoon tea. Photograph courtesy of Dominica Tang.

My sister was engaged for the entirety of Victorian Afternoon Tea; a rare occurrence in her museum-going experience. Be sure to check out the rest of Marks's highly experimental and eye-opening work, and I will see you in the next one!