Food Culture Map Exhibition: learn about the artistic process

In Gustavo Krelling’s studio-apartment, colorful and patterned mannequins wear the artist’s creations for the exhibition Mapa da Cultura Alimentar. The mounted scenes debut on September 6 at Shopping Mueller, in the exhibition that is part of the Montenegro Produções project with resources from the Culture Incentive Law. On the same day, the launch of the book on the expedition carried out by the multidisciplinary team is scheduled, which had 12 products with the Geographical Indication seal of Paraná and Santa Catarina as a guide.

“Our intention is to go beyond the obvious by reusing materials to talk about food culture”, points out the artist. “Most of the applications came from bibliographical research and field visits. When I went to Antonina, for example, I found a lot of things in the local market, such as fishing tools”, he recalls.

Facilities represent the vast Brazilian food culture

Gustavo set up six artistic installations that represent the vast Brazilian food culture: from the scarecrow in the field to the fruit seller, the characters will be set in a structure designed by the Givago Ferentz Arquitetura office, with texts by researcher Karoline Barreto. Using a poetics of resignification and recycling of materials, Krelling’s installations will represent and tell stories of food culture and products with a Geographical Indication seal addressed in the project’s research.

“We created an organic circuit so that the visitor can walk through a flow of knowledge in a fluid way, with various materials that represent the food culture, such as the texture of bark, metal and wood”, explains Ferentz, whose office is focused on bars and restaurants , with over a thousand projects executed in Brazil.

Therefore, crucial issues for food establishments, such as thermal and acoustic comfort, were also applied in this exhibition. Along the way, LED screens will show the backstage of the Food Culture Map research, bringing details of the daily work of farmers and cooks involved with original ingredients. “It’s like seeing the restaurant’s kitchen at work”, compares the architect, who worked on the research with fellow professional Rafaela Bruno.

For the facilities, Krelling’s research began in April and took shape from the use of food, packaging and kitchen utensils, in parts purchased and in parts collected with the help of the neighborhood. Gustavo’s assistant and responsible for part of the making of the pieces, Glaci de Jesus organized a joint effort in his condominium to collect most of the material used in the exhibition, such as plastic packaging for yogurt, soft drinks, cans and plasticized paper. Textile industrial waste and accessories are among the reuse of jute bags, fairground boxes and plastic nets.

In the scene that represents the caiçara culture and the barreado, wide nests of macaroni turn into curls of hair, under hats made with a funnel and an orange squeezer. Fishing tools, such as nets and covo (trap to catch fish), as well as oars, baskets and clay pots, were used in the scenography. One of the fishermen displays a necklace of silver cutlery, which forms a collar over the checkered fabric of the tablecloth.

The banana, Brazil’s symbol fruit, honors Carmen Miranda in another part of the installation. Her costume mixes Antonina’s banana candy wrappers with plastic fruit nets. “During the bibliographical research, I discovered that Carmen Miranda performed at the Theatro Municipal de Antonina in 1933. Nothing fairer than joining the two stories to talk about two national symbols”, explains Gustavo.

The “fabric” of the dress was made with candy wrapper, symbol of the city on the coast of Paraná. “We unpacked six kilos of sweets to start the work. Then we got a packaging roll directly from the factory, which helped a lot”, reveals Krelling. On the neck and wrists of the model, trinkets made of plastic cap. Complete the look with a wreath of fruit covered with shiny candy wrapper.

In a third representation, the fusion between the baiana on the board and the fruit seller is found in the assembly of a costume with a structure that surrounds her skirt. Bowls hanging around the mannequin display pineapples, bunches of grapes, apples and bananas made from plastic cutlery, PET bottles and bottle caps. The saleswoman wears a turban and dress made from a checkered tablecloth.

Coffee bags and dehydrated orange slices make up the clothes of the scarecrow, “protector of crops”, and which represents the field. Her eyes are formed by fruit, and her outfit is completed by a straw hat made from ears and cans of green corn.

Arcimboldo, a 16th century Milanese painter, inspired the sculpture that forms a face from coffee capsules, wine corks and cheese packaging. The 12 products with Geographical Indications that appear in the book are portrayed in this work, which mimics coffee beans with raw chickpea seeds painted red, among other creative details by Krelling and team.

The only installation in the Food Culture Map exhibition that dispenses with the human figure is the map of Brazil made up of jute bags and cooking utensils in stainless steel, straw and wood. “We sought to bring a unit to the map with cutlery, objects and everyday kitchen instruments. There are pans, sieves, plates, kettles, mats and wooden spoons”, explains the artist.