The Next "Invasive" is "Native"

An evening of ice-cream tasting, fear mongering and discussion with Dr John Bailey, University of Leicester and Cooking Sections.

Humans classify natural species into those that belong and those that do not belong to a certain place. Some plants or animals, which are non-native to a specific location and rapidly spread, are believed to cause severe damage to the local environment, economy or human health. These are often described as aliens, invaders, or pests. Increasingly since the 1950s, both human and non-human migration discourses have used the figure of the non-native or the alien as a negative input for native contexts. In a similar way, when Italian ice cream cafés first opened in Glasgow at the beginning of the 20th century, they were described in local press as foreign sites promoting ‘bad habits and promiscuity.’ Set in five ice cream cafés in Glasgow, The Next 'Invasive' is 'Native' re-thinks the alien as an entity that actually constructs a new reality and brings valuable cultural hybridisation.

Scotland’s unprecedented legislation on non-native invasive species, The Wildlife and Natural Environment Act 2011, criminalises the releasing of animals, or actively planting or spreading plants in an environment that is considered non-native to them. Scaremongering, deflation of property value and the refusal to grant mortgages to homeowners that have found Japanese Knotweed on their premises, are processes that have developed a growing market of expensive eradication programmes. This questions what is the pristine Scottish landscape and who defines it, as perceptions of native, alien, and invasive species profoundly change over time. In response, The Next 'Invasive' is 'Native' uses ice-cream cafés as the platform to think about the ice-cream that puts invasive species at the forefront of conviviality. The names of the five new ice-cream flavours have been taken from recent articles in the media that are propagating the panic about non-native invasive species in the UK.

"The 'Next "Invasive" Is "Native"" was commissioned by VERBureau for the exhibition Pokey Hat on the occasion of Glasgow International 2016.