Angasi native oysters 2025

Summary

This ceramic artwork of Angasi native oysters was made by Kenny Pittock for the 2025 City Gallery exhibition 'The Dirty Dozen'. Curated by award-winning food writer and author Richard Cornish, the exhibition delved into the sometimes-dark, often-uplifting stories behind street food, produce markets and the dining habits of the 19th-century elite. The twelve ceramic artworks produced by Pittock bring to life 12 quintessential Melbourne street foods. All look good enough to eat.

"Angasi oysters were integral to the diet of the Bunurong people living on the coast. Bunurong women would spend several days a week gathering native oysters just offshore. Upon invasion of Port Phillip, settlers dredged the Angasi oysters from the bay and then sold them in shacks and street stalls. After the gold rush in the 1850s, opulent halls with marble bars were built. French champagne, chilled on ice that was imported from North America, flowed freely, consumed with oysters by the bushel. By the 1880s, Melbourne’s insatiable demand for native oysters had destroyed the reefs, not only in Port Phillip Bay but also Western Port Bay and Gippsland Lakes. Today, conservationists are working to restore the reefs in Port Phillip Bay." - Richard Cornish, 'The Dirty Dozen' exhibition catalogue