Bringing People to the Table

To expand our Biennale presence and communicate the project’s message while in Venice, we teamed up with design students from Ascoli Piceno to create a three-day workshop exploring the intersection of culinary heritage and social design. This cultural exchange was invaluable; working with local students sparked many thoughtful discussions with an international crowd on the streets of Venice, with wonderfully rich and varied narratives and food histories. The workshop culminated in flash mob-style spontaneous interventions that provoked curiosity and conversation on bridges and piazzas throughout the city.

The success of our workshop—design discussions, shared food histories and further cultural exchange—underscored the project’s success and affirmed its relevance with an international audience. From our Venice experience, we learned that what initially resonated with our design team resonates globally; there is something universal about the social and cultural aspects of food—growing, cooking, sharing and eating. The Collective can play a key role in facilitating productive dialogue about what is and isn’t working in our food culture today. If we encourage more people to look at food through a social lens, then we can make real progress toward solving society’s food access and health issues.

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