A thought-provoking Cape Town exhibition, at the Castle of Good Hope, Design & Making [the story of food], traces the evolution of design through food – in particular, the vessels used for its storage, preservation, packaging and distribution.
The exhibition, at the Castle of Good Hope from 12 May-12 October this year, is a collaboration between the Cape Craft & Design Institute (CCDI) and Iziko Museums of South Africa’s Social History Collections Department. It forms part of the official Cape Town World Design Capital 2014 programme.
Installations reveal how the story of food preservation, storage and packaging over time is vast and complex. From using found objects such as ostrich eggs and gourds, and objects made from clay, wood, grass and other materials, humankind now stores food in freezers, plastic, cardboard, glass and vacuum-packaging.
And while we still have the same food types such as grains and cereals, in the modern era we see a proliferation of newly-created foodstuffs such as energy drinks and same-size fruit and vegetables.
The exhibition story is told through installations and designed objects: a large group of historic African, European and Asian objects sourced from Iziko’s Collections, plus 30 contemporary objects created by designer-makers from the Western Cape. There are also examples of modern packaging.
The curators are independent consultants Rayda Becker and June Hosford, Esther Esmyol and Wieke van Delen (Iziko Museums), Vikki du Preez (Cape Peninsula University of Technology), Marjorie Naidoo (CCDI and project manager) and exhibition designer Aidan Bennetts.
“In focusing on food, we are focusing on the essence of life, the grand sweep of history, monumental shifts in the landscape of production, industry, and commerce, and the impact of all this on society, communities, and ordinary people,” said Marjorie Naidoo.
“We chose the storage, preservation and packaging of food as this is object-based, and we could draw on the rich store of Iziko’s Social History Collections, as well as contemporary designer-makers, and the complex contribution of the industrialised era.”
Wieke van Delen, Curator: Social History at Iziko Museums, said: “Iziko enjoys entering into partnerships that enable it to showcase the beautiful and thought-provoking items in its collections. It is also an opportunity to nurture a greater appreciation of social history through material objects – which range from sharp stone tools used 1.7 million years ago to 20th century Zambian storage baskets. We hope that this exhibition will attract everyone from school learners to cognoscenti of the arts.”
The exhibition shows how food has acquired layers of meaning, said Naidoo. From a basic life necessity, it became a trade, with scarce and rare foodstuffs assuming the status of luxury goods. With the industrial era and urbanisation, food became a more sophisticated industry, escalating into a science to meet the demand of millions of consumers. More recently, culinary designers have given expression to food as an art form.
The exhibition also reveals how vessels used for storage, preservation and packaging of food have been radically influenced through human development and technological innovation. These include the discovery of fire, salt, glass, electricity, new materials such as plastic, aluminium and cardboard; fast production methods developed in the industrial era; and new marketing methods leading to the age of consumerism and waste.
Challenges of slow food production, food decay from heat, and precarious transport, have been replaced by new challenges of feeding exploding city populations, disposing of mountains of waste, and solving extreme inequalities in access to food.
WHEN: 12 May- 12 October 2014
WHERE: Iziko Good Hope Gallery, Castle of Good Hope, Buitenkant Street, Cape Town 8001. Gates open 09h00 daily (last entry 15h30 – close at 16h00).
Entrance to the Castle: Adults R30, pensioners (SA card holders only) R15, children/students (5-16 years) R15, booked school groups R5.
Support and/or sponsorship comes from the Distell Foundation, Zonnebloem Wines, Business and Arts South Africa, the National Arts Council and recycling companies PETCO and Select-A-Can.
As well as assisting with the establishment of the exhibition in collaboration with the Distell Foundation , Zonnebloem Wines has contributed to a display of older bottles of wine. The company has also supplied 100 Zonnebloem wine bottles from which a dramatic art piece was created, designed by Bennetts. This will be displayed at the Oude Libertas Art Gallery in Stellenbosch once the exhibition closes.
INFO: CCDI |IZIKO | Castle of Good Hope
PHOTO CREDIT: Eric Miller
