Developed by the South Carolina State Museum and South Carolina Humanities, South Carolina: The Food We Celebrate is a new traveling exhibit that celebrates iconic foods from communities around South Carolina. The State Museum and South Carolina Humanities collaborated with 22 organizations across SC to develop the content for the exhibit, highlighting 20 different iconic foodways such as BBQ, chicken bog, peaches and more.
South Carolina: The Food We Celebrate tells the story of selected foodways popular in South Carolina and how they are saluted and shared. Did you know that the World Grits Festival takes place annually in April in St. George, SC? (And have you heard of the event “Rollin’ in the Grits”?) Do you know the difference between chicken bog and pileau? Do you know which South Carolina community is celebrated for its pumpkins? (Hint: the word pumpkin is in the name!) You can find out the answers to all of the questions and many more in South Carolina: The Food We Celebrate.
The exhibit will debut at the 150th anniversary of the South Carolina State Fair (October 9 – 20, 2019) and will then travel the state, allowing everyone the opportunity to serve up this exhibition banquet of South Carolina community cuisine. Other upcoming venues where the exhibit can be seen are:
November 2019, Penn Center, St. Helena Island
February 2020, Horry County Museum, Conway
April 2020, Colleton County Museum and Farmers Market, Walterboro
May 2020, Dorchester County Archives & History Center, St. George
June – July 2020, Gaffney Visitor Center, Gaffney
August 2020, The Village Museum, McClellanville
September – October 2020, The Heyward House Museum, Beaufort
Nov 2020, Coastal Discovery Center, Hilton Head Island
April – June 2021, Sumter County Museum, Sumter
September 2021, Oconee Heritage Center, Walhalla
South Carolina: The Food We Celebrate is part of the SC State Museum’s Traveling Exhibit Program, which provides museums, art centers, universities and other institutions with high quality, affordable traveling exhibitions. These special exhibits provide a variety of fascinating shows for institutions of any size, from large exhibitions designed for major museums to smaller, South Carolina-specific exhibits for local museums, galleries, libraries, schools and more. Learn more.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
