The Open Kitchen The fermented seed, colonialism and extractivism
The MACBA Kitchen is a working group situated against the backdrop of ecosocial crisis. Participants in the group aim to highlight the importance of intuitively imagining an ecofeminist kitchen, and take a particular interest in the wisdom of individuals, projects and experiences that work with dislocated knowledge in relation to food sovereignty.
Through the Open Kitchen we aim to share with the public, in an open format, topics of interest, research and concerns that we regularly tackle in our weekly meetings. It is also an opportunity to invite and bring together other specialised artists, thinkers, projects and collectives to establish lines of collaboration, engage in dialogue and reflect collectively.
Programme
The Open Kitchen
In the MACBA Kitchen we have been swapping cocoa for carob for years, offering a creative response to the colonial, extractivist cacao tradition that is so deeply rooted in the customs of both Spain and Catalonia. Through three projects we retrace connections between localised and diasporic knowledge, and aim to shine a light on the darker side of the traditional cup of chocolate con churros.
Thickening the chocolate
The MACBA’s Kitchen is a meeting space, but also a social laboratory where participants can inhabit dissent. The previous Open Kitchen session included the participation of Ana Felicien, Andrés Antebi, Yazel Parra and Patrizia del Razo, who helped us trace a history of cocoa crisscrossed by its colonial legacies, so rooted in our customs.
That session brought the bitter flip side of a traditional cup of chocolate to the table. Andrés Antebi’s presentation on Spanish—and Catalan—colonial plunder in Equatorial Guinea led to a debate that could not be fully explored due to lack of time. At the MACBA Kitchen we believe in the importance of simmering debates over a low flame and holding difficult conversations with the care they deserve. That is why we are convening a second monographic session on cocoa, where we will try to thicken the chocolate.
Seeds from here, seeds from there
At the Open Kitchen we are continuing the work of drawing connections between localised memories and knowledge. Led by Ecuadorian visual storyteller Isadora Romero and the Eixarcolant collective, we devote this session to the bloodshed hidden behind the loss of knowledge and honouring that knowledge which is able to be recovered.
Isadora will present her video La sangre es una semilla, which, through personal accounts, explores the disappearance of seeds, forced migration, racism, colonisation and the resulting loss ofancestral knowledge.
If you have any question, feel free to contact us on 93 481 33 68 or by email at macba [at] macba [dot] cat
