21 January 2018
The 3rd Edition of “Food is Culture Festival” Kicks off at Bahrain National Museum
Bahrain National Museum hosted on 21 January 2018, the festive events marking another edition of “Food Is Culture”, in the presence of H.E Shaikha Hala Bint Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Director of Culture & Arts Directorate, at Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities, together with many culture lovers and intellectuals living in Bahrain. Food is Culture is a creative experimental project that aims to bridge together the mediums of art and food and it is running in parallel with the Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition.
Speaking for the occasion, H.E Shaikha Hala Bint Mohammad Al-Khalifa expressed her happiness to attend this third edition of food is culture festival, adding that the previous successful two editions have encouraged the continuation of this pioneering cultural adventure. This experiment sheds light on creative processes that take place when two individuals (from different creative disciplines) collaborate. H.E also thanked all those who contributed to the success of this annual event and organizers of Al-Fann: Art from the Islamic Civilization from The al-Sabah Collection” and Between Muharraq and Seville: A Bolza-Bu Saad Dialogue” exploring The Beauty of Arabic Calligraphy.
For a whole week at 7:00pm, artists and chefs get together and work to produce a creative product; be it a painting, installation, video, cake, drink, all or something completely different. The result of their creative work, which is documented in a short film and a publication, will be presented during the course of the week, where they share and display their collective creations. The event is public free.
The first day of “ Food is Culture” festival gathered a dual between artist Faika Al Hassan and French Chef Yann Bernard Lejard (YBL) from The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain Hotel & Spa who presented a common installation work, preparing a culinary feast and place his artistic creations of white French chocolate, decorated in blue. Artist Faiqa Al-Hassan presented three painting in different colours, white, blue, brown, orange and green, symbolizing humans and planet earth.
Faika Al Hassan's paintings at times contain allusions to the politics of power and violence. The overriding message though, is that of our own insignificance in the large scheme of things. The small human figures in her paintings travel the canvas in large numbers and at times in groups, yet are all isolated from one another. They travel along paths and may not understand where they are heading. At times it seems that the figures are trapped by the rectangular canvases they inhabit as if in a maze. The atmosphere is variously stake to hopeful, depending on the artist's use of color. In some of the paintings black, white and shades of gray dominate, with just a few touches of red. In others, the individual figurines are painted in a myriad of colors. Chef Yann Bernard LEJARD known as YBL is an iconic figure in the restaurant world in general, whose goal is to convey emotion, experience and memories. His specialty is in the sauce- not just the intricate melding of flavors, but how it is disposed- as if it were paint and the plate a canvas.
Worth to mention that Food is Culture will continue its events until 22 January, with Kostas Magoulas (Mylk &More) and artist Weded Al-Bakr. On 23 January Bassam Al-Alawi (Darseen Café) and artist Mahmood Al-Sharqawi, and on 24 January, Saneya AbdulAal (Perfectly Pressed) and artist Haya Al Khalifa will form a marvelous dual, while the last day of the festival will feature artist Fatima Jamal (Lezzet) and artist Jaffar Al-Oraibi on 25 January.
