Everyone must eat. Food is a basic necessity, but our daily engagement with it belies complex structural systems that undergird our ability to get a meal. When we eat, we connect with new and old traditions in personal ways that blend our values, identities, worldviews, and politics. This exhibit explores the many ways archival representations of food and related cultural practices preserve community memories while reflecting and engaging with broader societal issues related to identity, representation, and daily lived experiences.
Our relationship with food is complex and multifaceted. What we consume and how we choose to consume it varies based on percolating food fads, new tools, scientific advancements, and harsh realities of labor and access. Though this exhibit is focused on food, the story it tells is ultimately about people. What stories would your meal tell if it had a voice? The food we eat and the ways in which we prepare it reveal clues about how we see ourselves and those around us.
The exhibit explores ways of transmitting cooking knowledge, and considers contributions to American foodways. It also examines the interplay between food and issues such as politics, labor, gender, and identity. Taken together, it provides food for thought on the ways this essential part of life satiates our appetites while serving as a conduit for our culture.
