Culinary Narratives, Arts, Philosophy, and Design
Keywords: Aesthetics, Curatorial studies, Participatory Design, Speculative Design, Food Storytelling, Relational Aesthetics, Rural studies, Performance
In recent years, gastronomy has proven to be a particularly fertile ground for multidisciplinary research in the field of humanities, as it operates at the intersection of philosophy, anthropology, art, and social studies. Gastronomy, understood as an active and heterogeneous field of intertwining areas and knowledge about food, has found its place in research and education, proposing new frameworks where theory and practice are strictly interwoven and where the narrative dimension of experience is unavoidable. The questions raised by food are complex and require a thorough approach. In this context, creativity also assumes a crucial role. Over the past several years, the realm of art has increasingly delved into gastronomy, showcasing its significance on some of the most important international art stages, from Documenta1 5 to the Venice Biennale, along with numerous exhibitions and performances worldwide. Yet, the communicative and creative dimensions of the culinary sphere also manifest in contexts not traditionally associated with art. Here, taste, memory, and the manifold expressions of cuisines and traditions serve as mediums to express and narrate life experiences.
In this thematic session, we aim to explore how philosophers, artists, curators, designers, and other creative professionals reflect on practices and experiences around food. We seek to encourage a participatory and collective approach toward co-designing change and helping the development of a new, critical gastronomy.
Panels
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Culinary Creativity and Culinary Value
Convenor: Patrik Engisch, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Abstract: Culinary creativity is all the rage in the culinary world. But what does it mean exactly to be creative in the culinary domain? And how does creativity in the culinary domain differ, if at all, from creativity in related domains such as art or crafts? This panel will aim to address these questions from the perspective of philosophy and neighboring disciplines.
From a philosophical perspective, the answer to these questions must lie, at least in part, in a conception of what it means to be valuable in the culinary domain, i.e., of what makes culinary items good qua culinary items. Indeed, according to its standard definition in philosophy and psychology, for something to be creative, it to be a novel and valuable instance of its kind. But what does it take to be valuable in the culinary domain? Or, in other words, what is culinary value? Does it constitute a separate kind of value? And if yes, how should we understand it? Or is it reducible to other forms of already known values, such as aesthetic value, hedonic value, or artistic value?
From a food studies perspective, the recent history of gastronomy provides us with a host of interesting examples. In what sense did movements as different as Nouvelle Cuisine, Modernist Cuisine, Nordic Cuisine, or Social Gastronomy display culinary creativity, and in what sense did their creativity impinge on what it means to be valuable in the culinary domain? And did the way culinary creativity unfolded in the recent past differ, or on the contrary overlap, with the way it did in other domains, such as art and crafts?
Such issues and similar ones will be addressed in this panel. We welcome contributions not only from philosophers but from all disciplines interested in shedding some light on these foundational issues.Keywords: Creativity, Recipes, Art
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Sweet Taste, Food Smell and the Arts: New Theoretical Perspectives
Convenors:
Maddalena Borsato, University of Gastronomic Sciences, Italy
Elena Mancioppi, University of Gastronomic Sciences, ItalyAbstract: Although taste and smell perceptions have been extensively investigated from numerous perspectives, there remains a need to further explore their aesthetic, affective, symbolic, socio-cultural, and ecological significance. This is especially true when focusing on sweet taste and food scents.
Sweetness and food-related odors are complex qualities that, albeit in different ways, are increasingly pervasive. While the basic taste of almost all the food we consume today is sweet or sweetened, a significant portion of the scents we encounter are food-related. Furthermore, sweetness encompasses more than just sugar content; it becomes a multifaceted and cross-sensory metaphor, similarly to how the olfactory dimension takes on emotional and perceptual values usually associated with the experience of an ""atmosphere."" Indeed, the abundance of connotations and senses shared by sweetness and smell is evidenced by their recent artistic use, often aimed at conveying meanings related to power dynamics, social discriminations, and economic forces.
In this panel, we invite contributors to address food- and gastronomy-related topics that deal with tastes like sweetness and/or olfaction from philosophical, artistic, or cross-cultural perspectives. From aesthetics to ethics, from marketing strategies to literature and cooking practices, tastes and fragrance reveal not only perceptual and symbolic values but also socio-political patterns embedded in cultural and imaginary paradigms. Can we attribute new artistic significance to tastes and foods? What about food scents? Can sweetness, for example, and smells raise awareness of global issues we face today? Furthermore, are these useful tools for rethinking the relationship between gastronomy and the arts?Keywords: SWEETNESS, SMELL, TASTE, PHILOSOPHY, ART
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Culinary Mind: What’s in the Pot
Convenor: Nicola Piras University of Minho, Centre for Ethics, Politics, and Society, Portugal
Abstract: This panel presents five lines of research developed by young scholars of Culinary Mind, an international center for the philosophy of food, based at the University of Milan, including scholars all around the world. The center aims at creating bridges between those working on the theoretical philosophy of food (e.g., on food ontology or on the foundation of food sciences) with those working on value-laden issues, e.g., food ethics or politics, and, additionally, engaging in the discussion also all those scholars and practitioners outside philosophy. The five papers offer a brief glimpse on a philosophical approach that seeks to clarify and eventually revise our food concepts in order to more efficiently meet the epistemic and political goals that they are set for. Covering different theoretical terrains—how to set up an ontology of sustainability, food neophobia, food waste definitions, and the future of nutrition science—the panel provides a frame on ongoing discussions among the members of the center, without the ambition of being exhaustive.
Keywords: Philosophy of food, Food ontology, Food concepts, Conceptual negotiation
Oral contributions
Moral Disgust in Meat Consumption: Conceptual Challenges to Experimental Approaches
Laura Gagliardi, University of Milan, Italy; Laboratoire CHArt, Cognitions Humaine et ARTificielle, EPHE - PSL, École Pratique des Hautes Études - Paris Sciences Lettres, Campus Condorcet, France; Institut Lyfe Research and Innovation Center, Ecully, FranceCoordinating Food Concepts: Negotiation and Education
Matteo Gandolini, University of Milan, Italy; Laboratoire CHArt, Cognitions Humaine et ARTificielle, EPHE - PSL, École Pratique des Hautes Études - Paris Sciences Lettres, Campus Condorcet, France; Institut Lyfe Research and Innovation Center, FranceA Philosophical Toolbox for Food Waste Conceptual Challenges
Nicola Piras, Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society, University of Minho, PortugalOntologies for Sustainability and Food Systems: A Review
Giorgio A. Ubbiali, University of Milan, Italy; International Center for Food Ontology Operability Data and Semantics (IC-FOODS), USAMorphing Nutrition Science: Lessons from the Microbial Turn
Beatrice Serini, University of Milan, Italy