It started last July “Food is Culture,” a very interesting project promoted by Slow Food in partnership with four other European organizations(Kinookus, Transpond, Nova Iskra Creative Hub and Europa Nostra).
The project enters its prime this year: it begins its journey across Europe with a multimedia art creation about the importance of the Food as part of our European roots and identity, formed over the centuries by mixtures of knowledge, rituals and traditions related (among other things) to food and wine products and production. The work will be exhibited in various cities and museum and cultural spaces in Sweden, Serbia, Croatia and Italy.
The project is funded by the Creative Europe program (part of a specific call for projects related to the European Year of Cultural Heritage) and is implemented with support from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo as part of the RisorsEuropa initiative.
The main contents of “Food is Culture” were presented in a video produced on the occasion of theEuropean Year of Cultural Heritage and the official launch of the project on September 23 as part of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto. The proposed actions break out of the traditional patterns of the food and wine sphere, proposing a mobilization of the cultural and creative sector to promote the value of food as part of European cultural identity and diversity.
In addition to the production and display of the traveling multimedia artwork, Food is Culture features competitions and “living library” initiatives (dedicated to chefs, students and migrant communities) and outreach activities for policymakers.
It is a great opportunity to spread, on a European and global level, the cultural value of food diversity and producers’ knowledge; and it is also an excellent example of how a European project can help broaden the vision and involvement of the citizenry on an issue that is only seemingly circumscribed.We will soon publish a’interview with Slow Food representatives, who will tell us how their idea developed and how their experience is going!
