This grassroots social impact organisation began life in the Middle East by building gigantic, beautifully decorated ovens and sending them to places in need – from conflict zones to refugee camps and cities in crisis. They come with a family of cooks and artists who decorate these functional public works of art with local youth, creating safe spaces for culture to flourish.
 
Now The Great Oven is embarking on an extraordinary journey to see if this grassroots food movement can go global.
 
Co- founder James Gomez Thompson explains: “Where better to continue this endeavour than the country most respected internationally for its success in peace and reconciliation - South Africa. The aim is to share knowledge and inspiration in order to develop an inclusive social impact strategy calling upon the expertise of Township Community Leaders.”
 
The Great Oven will be launching at DStv Delicious Festival Powered by LottoStar, creating a new paradigm in entertainment. This will be achieved by platforming a strong social impact message, leveraging South Africa’s unmatched creativity to construct food relief infrastructure for underserved communities.
 
Nick DeCosemo Global Editorial Director of Mixmag and Great Oven Head of Music: “Festivals are uniquely positioned to foster community. Bound by music and shared joy, an audience becomes a family for a moment. I am fascinated by how to continue this spirit when the stage-lights go out.”
 
James continues…“We have begun a residency at the Nirox Foundation with Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemaoana whose mentorship collective: ‘Occupy the Gallery’ have been working closely with local youth in the Cradle of Humankind. Together we have forged 3 ovens that will be painted live at the festival. These ovens will then be installed back in their township to catalyse community cohesion and resilience.”
 
The festival will host The Great Oven Bedouin Tent, an oasis of performance art. Secret headliners will play surprise gigs throughout the weekend inspiring the live painting of Africa’s inaugural Great Ovens. Guests will enjoy craft cocktails blooming with botanicals from The Cradle of Humankind and Levantine Shisha.
 
Tom Pearson-Adams Massive Management CEO and a founding partner of Delicious Festival South Africa (Pty) Ltd writes: “First we fell in love with the project, and then the founders.
                           
The Great Oven is a most extraordinary project which has already accomplished so much. Our plans present a scope of boundless opportunity with regards to impacting positively on the lives of many South Africans.
 
The Great Oven is a multifaceted community focussed program that nurtures recipients through training, mentorship, and social support.
 
The projects will act as a bridge between short term relief, promoting long term development and community sustainability.
 
We are just delighted to be involved and we look forward to the continuous expansion and positive impact of The Great Oven's footprint across South Africa.”
 
Mary Sibande says… “The Occupying the Gallery at the Hub in collaboration with The Great Oven and Delicious Festival is both a creative and community engagement endeavour. To populate the images on the oven, the community of Portion 26, a township in Kromdraai, were engaged with to render authenticity in the design. We are thankful to The Great Oven for opening up the dialogue between The Occupying the Gallery, Delicious Festival & Nirox Sculpture Park!”
 
About Occupying the Gallery
 
Occupying the Gallery is a visual arts based project space, mentorship/support programme, mobile studio, collective and artist residency established in July 2023 by established artists, Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemaoana. 
 
Its core function is to ‘occupy’ galleries/institutions, alongside emerging artists, to produce experimental visual arts showcases in collaboration with relevant arts and culture orientated partners.
 
The main pillar of Occupying the Gallery are the ‘Occupants’. This is the title given to young and emerging artists that ‘Occupy’ mentors, collaborates and guides through our projects and programmes. Through these projects and programmes we aim to bridge the gap of knowledge and access between emerging artists and industry/economical/entrepreneurial success.        
 
About The Great Oven
 
The Great Oven provides sustainable food relief and creative community building by leveraging the power of cooking, art and music.
 
Since 2018, The Great Oven’s work has taken place in Lebanon, a country facing a soaring food crisis. With the highest number of refugees per capita in the world and an additional 300,000 displaced by the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, the need for food relief and reconstruction efforts in Lebanon has reached unprecedented levels. This emergency is compounded by ongoing social tension, division and conflict.
 
The Great Oven has responded to these challenges by installing giant community ovens in areas of critical need. Six of our ovens are operational across Lebanon including: the unofficial camps of the Beqaa Valley where they feed Syrian and Palestinian refugees and throughout Beirut.
 
The idea is simple: Build an oven, teach people how to use it, supply the food, and a community can feed itself, healthily. 
 
An organisation created for and by society’s most marginalised, they champion local agency and ownership. Their work is shaped by the first-hand experiences of a diverse and talented team which includes refugee families, stateless youth, ex-child fighters and trafficked African women.
 
https://www.instagram.com/thegreatoven/ 
 
James Gomez Thompson Bio

Co-Founder of The Great Oven 
 
Long standing creative partner of BBC broadcaster and cookery author Nigel Slater. Together they founded Sloe Films where James created and Executive Produced: Nigel Slater’s Middle East (IMDB 8.2) and Eating Together (IMDB 8.1) for the BBC to name a few. 
 
With over 16 years of experience making food television, selling to over 57 countries.
 
James has produced 7 international bestselling cookbooks with Nigel that have been translated into 6 languages and has contributed to The Guardian/Observer for over a decade. 
 
Food Director of the theatre production ‘Toast’ The West End’s first fully interactive food play. After an award winning run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the production was given a 17 week run at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Other Palace followed by a year long national tour.
 
Founder of The Great Oven, an international food relief organisation that puts giant community ovens in refugee camps and conflict zones in the Middle East.
 
A documentary series about James and The Great Oven is currently in production.
 
Nick DeCosemo Bio
 
With over 30 years experience in music and media, Nick currently holds the position of Global Editorial Director at Mixmag – the world’s biggest and most respected electronic music and DJ culture brand which reaches millions of music fans each week, across its print and digital platforms.
 
Nick is also a DJ, producer and vocalist, having released records on labels including Atlantic, Universal Music, Classic Music Company, Warner Music, Eskimo and Perfecto. 
 
He is co-founder of the lauded SXM Festival, a boutique electronic music event on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.