Jon McCurley’s parents met in Montreal while working for Cadbury Schweppes Canada confectionery company as Technical Director, and Director of Quality Control. Throughout his childhood, their work saw them traveling to the Cadbury Bournville location, as well as plants in India, South Africa, Australia, America, and Canada.
With his parents’ help and expertise, McCurley has created a replica chocolate bar food made of 100% Coberine: a manufactured vegetable fat product invented by Cadbury’s as an inexpensive replacement for cocoa during the 1970s.
On Saturday 25 June between 1–10.30pm, join Jon for a potentially humorous, and definitely satirical, Taste Test – an interactive stall as part of the Bournville Village Festival.
Take part in Jon’s live consumer survey before taking a whirl on the rides and sampling the rest of the delights the festival has to offer.
Taste Test is part of Monsters of the World, a multi facetted project which considers Cadbury’s role in the Age of Globalisation, and draws parallels to the Middle Ages and Age of Discovery. The so-called ‘edges of the known world’, where mythical monsters were claimed to have existed in previous centuries, appear to mirror today where multinational companies extract resources, exploit labour, open new markets, and sell products.
Alongside projects by Amy Ching-Yan Lam, Jon McCurley and Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Rajni’s project is part of our programme for the Birmingham 2022 Festival. This programme is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England, Canada House, Canada Council for the Arts and British Council.
