Works
Taste of Reminiscence, Delicacies from Nature: Ayako Suwa Exhibition (Part 1)
18 January - 29 February 2020
Attempting to create the experience of tasting the “self” by “tasting” memories as beautiful and precious deli-cacies.
In this exhibition, Suwa will offer new expressions of “food” under the theme of memories individually held by everyone. Suwa perceives memories as part of our consciousness as well as unconsciousness, namely the “self.” Through the exhibition, she attempts to create the experience of tasting the “self” by “tasting” memories as beautiful and precious deli-cacies. Furthermore, the “food” experience as expressed by Suwa in this exhibition is a “sharing of senses” with others, which Japanese people have practiced since ancient times in feeling nature’s beauty and transience, capturing it in poetry, enjoying incense, and making tea. At the same time, it is an experience of receiving “inspirations from nature” that have nurtured Japanese aesthetics and spirituality, and honing one’s senses.
[Aims of the exhibition]
The exhibition will feature an area where visitors can recall their own memories by actually tasting several “delicacies of reminiscence” prepared by Suwa in various flavors. Various utensils to taste such “reminiscence” in natural, organic forms will also be displayed as installations.
During the exhibition, Suwa will irregularly hold participative performances to taste her own memories with guests and share in the senses. Tasting raw “delicacies of reminiscence” offered by Suwa at the venue will create a ritual and dramatic experience that will allow the guests to share their personal memories.
[Visitor experience]
In this modern civilization, sharing with others what we feel through nature has become a rare experience. In this exhibition, visitors will experience communication that gradually opens up as they share their memories with each other through tastes, together with the bodily experience of “inspirations from nature.” This will be an opportunity to share with others the elusive sensations of delicate aesthetic and inner spirituality passed down among the Japanese people, and to ask themselves the question “Who am I?”
[Aims of the exhibition]
The exhibition will feature an area where visitors can recall their own memories by actually tasting several “delicacies of reminiscence” prepared by Suwa in various flavors. Various utensils to taste such “reminiscence” in natural, organic forms will also be displayed as installations.
During the exhibition, Suwa will irregularly hold participative performances to taste her own memories with guests and share in the senses. Tasting raw “delicacies of reminiscence” offered by Suwa at the venue will create a ritual and dramatic experience that will allow the guests to share their personal memories.
[Visitor experience]
In this modern civilization, sharing with others what we feel through nature has become a rare experience. In this exhibition, visitors will experience communication that gradually opens up as they share their memories with each other through tastes, together with the bodily experience of “inspirations from nature.” This will be an opportunity to share with others the elusive sensations of delicate aesthetic and inner spirituality passed down among the Japanese people, and to ask themselves the question “Who am I?”