21 January 2016
When Chefs Meet Visual Arts, “Food Is Culture” Festival Kicks Off at Bahrain National Museum
As part of its strategy to communicate with all the components of society and make culture a lingua franca shared by all humans, the Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities launches its festival, “Food Is Culture”, to be held at Bahrain National Museum at 7:00 pm. The festival will gather two elements of art, food and visual arts, at the same place and combine them into one fantastic presentation. The public will certainly enjoy the genuine and tasty secret recipes of famous cuisine chefs while they entertain themselves by watching movies and films. “Food is Culture” is a two month collaboration between artists, chefs, philosophers, ‘foodies’ and experts in various fields discussing, creating and showcasing the link between food, art, and culture. Organizers have informed the general public that they can send their registrations to the Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities via the following website www.culture.gov.bh or directly register at the venue.
The first week, 21-26 January, we have an exclusive collaboration between 6 artists and 6 chefs from Bahrain who will produce a one of a kind creation combining food and art to share with the audience. The second portion of “Food is Culture” is a lecture series with various personalities in Bahrain and the international scene that will discuss various topics under the umbrella of food and culture.
On 21 January famous chef Narees Qambar and H.E Shaikha Marwa Al-Khalifa will showcase their creative cuisine recipes to the public. Narees Qambar is a Bahraini entrepreneur who is passionate about cooking and creating new dishes. She also owns Saffron by Jena and Jena Bakery. Her outlets are very popular and she has started a trend by serving Bahraini food at local eateries. H.E Shaikha Marwa uses different materials and infuses her ideas with a wild feminine spirit apparent in her artwork. Her passion for art started from a very young age and continues with her work in art workshops and local and international exhibits. H.E received a recognition prize for her work at the 38th Bahrain Fine Arts Exhibition. On 22 January Chef Bassam, owner of Darseen Café, will add an eclectic and modern twist to contemporary foods. He has paired with abstract artist Zuhair Al Saeed whose artworks are replete with primal forms and oscillating movements. On 23 January the rendezvous will be with Chef Noor Murad and Rasha Yousef and on the 24th Chef Aysha Al-Arrefi will join artist Rama Husseini. The last meeting between food and art will gather Chef Michael Sang-Kyu Lee and artist Adel Abbasi. Asian and European recipes and menus presented by chefs will satisfy the tastes of food and art lovers during this festival.
The second part of this “ Food Is culture “festival will be dedicated to a series of lectures overlapping for a period of two months and will start at 7:00 pm in the Lecture Hall at Bahrain National Museum. On 28 January Mexican Chef Margarita Carrillo Arronte, author of Mexico: A Cookbook and Mexican Cuisine will discuss how she has strived, along with Mexico, to develop the original Mexican cuisine and the path to designation as part of UNESCO world heritage. The second lecture will feature Shaikha Hessa Humood Al-Khalifa on 7 February 2016, while the third lecture will be with chef and artist Dalal al-Shurooqi on 6 March 2016. Famous artist Balqees Fakhro will end the series of lecture on 13 January 2016.
The festival “Food is Culture” will showcase a number of different movies at the Lecture Hall, including; “Ratatouille” on Saturday 23 January 2016 at 4:00pm , “The Hundred-Foot Journey” on Saturday 23 January at 8:30 pm , and “Julie and Julia” on Monday 25 January at 8:30 pm.
