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The Politics of Food

Delfina Foundation reopened to the public with a theme-based residency that involved ten artists, curators and thinkers to explore the politics of food.

The first exhibition in the new space of the Delfina Foundation highlights key issues within the theme of the politics of food and act as a starting point for the research undertaken during the residencies.

Some of the participating artists include: Abbas Akhavan who exhibits a water fountain created using stacks of dishes pots and cooking pans that explores the politics of hospitality; Zineb Sedira whose large-scale photographs and sugar sculpture references the history of sugar, race, migration and globalization; Tadasu Takamine reflects on the consequences of the catastrophic nuclear meltdown at Fukushima in a series of performative videos; Asunción Molinos whose work in the show originates for a “pop-up” restaurant she ran in Cairo which dealt with issues related to Egypt’s export/import policies and Senam Okudzeto whose work Portes-Oranges features metal sculptures used by Ghanaian fruit sellers to display oranges.

From Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurist Cookery to Gordon Matta-Clark’s conceptual restaurant to Michael Rakowitz’s Enemy Kitchen, artists have long employed food within their creative process and practice. In recent years, a host of cultural practitioners has been interrogating relationships between food and environmental, economic and social concerns, as well as notions of cooking and eating as performative acts and of dishes, recipes, and cookbooks as oft-contested markers of cultural memory.

Through its residency and public programme, Delfina Foundation brings together artists, curators and critics from around the world to explore how artistic strategies have and can be used to address wide-ranging issues, in this case relating to food, agriculture, and the environment. “The Politics of Food” will unfold over the course of four years at Delfina Foundation, one season at a time.

The related public programme includes weekly events spanning lunchtime talks and dinner discussions; performances around cooking and eating; film screenings; and “food fights”, a cooking contest and debate between two leading art world professionals

Asunción Molinos Gordo (Spain/Egypt), El Matam El Mish- Masry ("The Non-Egyptian Restaurant"), 2012.  Digital prints, video, sound. Duration: 4.42 min.  Photo © Tim Bowditch

Zineb Sedira (France/Algeria/UK), Sugar Routes, Sugar Routes II, 2013, C-Prints.  Photo © Tim Bowditch

Senam Okudzeto (Ghana/UK/USA), Porte-Oranges (CM), 2012 / Porte-Oranges (detail), 2004-2007.  Metal sculptures, oranges, video, sound. Duration: 6.32 min Photo © Tim Bowditch

Gayle Chong Kwan (UK), Wastescape, 2012.  Used and new plastic food packaging, sound (English and Spanish), media player, headphones . Photo © Tim Bowditch

Tadasu Takamine (Japan), Japan Syndrome, 2012  Video, sound. Kansai: 31:00 min / Yamagushi: 48:00 / Mito: 49:00 Photo © Tim Bowditch

Candice Lin (USA), Bacium Sub Cauda, 2012 Tar, papier-mâché, hair, epoxy and audio/video for stop- motion animation and video. Duration: 7 min Photo: © Tim Bowditch

Leone Contini (Italy), The Cento Fiori ("Hundred Flowers Tea"), 2014.  Paper, Chinese New Year red paper. Photo © Tim Bowditch

On the left: Raed Yassin, Self-Portrait with Foreign Fruits and Vegetables, 2012. Courtesy of Kalfayan Galleries, Athens - Thessaloniki. Photo © Tim Bowditch. On the right: Abbas Akhavan (Iran/Canada), Well From Variations On Ghosts & Guests, 2011. Pots, pans, water. Photo: © Tim Bowditch

until February 15, 2014
The Politics of Food
Delfina Foundation
29/31 Catherine Place
London

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The Politics of Food

Delfina Foundation reopened to the public with a theme-based residency that involved ten artists, curators and thinkers to explore the politics of food.

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