KUNST KEBAB: Exploring food and contemporary art in social space

About

Kunst Kebab, an international art exhibition, which focuses on the relation of food and art will take place in a restaurant in the U2 Underground Passage in the Museum Quartier, Vienna. The restaurant, which is run by a Turkish immigrant, will be a site for artistic interventions and it will include artworks of different media such as digital printing, photography, installation, video and performance. The exhibition will host 13 artists from different backgrounds and it will be curated by Deniz Beşer and Deniz Güvensoy.

Although there are many examples that use food as a form of art, to taste is the one of the five senses that the contemporary art gives the minimum interest. But; eating is not only about senses, taste and pleasure; it is a vital biological activity and a cultural practice. Eating together is a cultural gesture that gathers people together and different cooking methods create traditions, which are part of the local identity. Common features of the cuisine and eating habits have the power to connect societies. A certain type of food gain different meanings when it is exported: A local food of lower classes in a distant country might become a signifier of a sophisticated palate in another country. Migrants, Gastarbeiter don’t only bring their own food culture to a different cultural context but they also transform their food to adapt to the different tasting habits. Food connects us in a way but it also separates because of religion prohibitions, rituals, different palates, different traditions, ethics and mentality. Food may signify much more than simple nutrition, it tells about where you come from, where you live, what social class you belong to and the condition of your body.

The main focus of the project is to discover the role of food, eating and tasting in contemporary art. Another important focus is to investigate the ways to transform the meaning and function of social spaces using art practices. Turning a Kebab restaurant into an art venue is both a challenge and a new opportunity to create new encounters in a new context.

Curators: Deniz Güvensoy and Deniz Beşer

Artists: Žarko Aleksić, Fatih Aydoğdu, ONA B., Boris Beja, Deniz Beşer, Elisa Jule Braun, Deniz Güvensoy, Jelena Micić, Khaled Ramadan, Kamen Stoyanov, Katharina Swoboda, Serra Tansel, Joshua James Zielinski