Future Food

Food has always been a source of nourishment and health, and at the same time, much more than that. In modern industrial societies, food has increasingly become a means of self-optimisation and a widely accepted measure of the “good life”. Its diverse range of meanings lends it social and political relevance typical of our day and age. How will we (be able to) continue feeding ourselves in the future? This interdisciplinary exhibition by the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden presents visions of future nutrition in cosmopolitan society and provides the general public the opportunity to experience these. It explores the possible future of food in four theme-based rooms with visual materials and information on “Production”, “Trade”, “Selection” and “Consumption”. From the laboratory to the field, from global markets to supermarkets to the consumer, the exhibition sheds light on how food has changed in theory and practice, and what the future of food might look like. The exhibition creates exciting new compositions by combining items of science, cultural history and everyday life with contemporary works of visual art and speculative design approaches. The goal is to highlight the social significance and symbolism of food, as well as its role in politics and (fair) trade, religions and “digital food cultures” of the future.

Artistic director: Viktoria Krason
Artists: Wojtek Doroszuk (PL), Izumi Miyazaki (JP), L.A. (Liesbeth and Angelique) Raeven (NL), Thomas Rentmeister

Cooperation partners: Interdisciplinary Research Alliance “Nutrition, Health and Social Order in Modern Life”, Futurzwei, Leibniz research alliance “Food and Nutrition”, Collaborative Research Centre 1285 “Invectivity. Constellations and Dynamics of Disparagement” at the TU Dresden