Mind your Table Manners
The art, theater and culinary worlds collide at Tel Aviv University’s new exhibition, “Table Manners.”
As we mark Israel’s 70th anniversary, we cannot help but feel nostalgic, looking back on all of the state’s inspiring accomplishments. Sure, at the mention of “accomplishments” or “success stories” most Israeli minds spiral off on a technological tangent, giddily reciting their ICQs as if they were ABCs, and shamelessly boasting about Waze and water irrigation to anyone willing (or unwilling) to listen.
While technology has thrived in this young nation, a more unexpected milieu has also taken flight: the arts. From captivating theater performances in the heart of Tel Aviv to mesmerizing paintings on every wall (whether inside the museum or outside a shop in Florentine) to culinary establishments destined for global success, the White City’s cultural scene certainly takes the cake.
One such institution literally taking the cake this spring is Tel Aviv University. Its newest project, Table Manners, which is housed in the University Gallery until the end of July, draws together all of the city’s most creative genres – art, theater and food – to form a meticulous, multi-course feast for the eyes.
The result: a spectacular interdisciplinary collaboration that engages with “food and its place in culture,” while presenting “works of art that reflect social behavior through one of the most basic human activities.”
Through interactive art exhibitions and accompanying theater plays, the art history and theater arts departments of Tel Aviv University have come together to offer a buffet of works that explore the tensions between our most primal need for nourishment and our bodily sensations in response to its design, aesthetics and refinement in the contemporary culinary world.
Under the curatorial guidance of Nirith Nelson, Table Manners showcases dozens of contemporary works by Israeli and international artists such as Paul McCarthy, Jennifer Bar-Lev and Cindy Sherman which fuse food with art in out-of-the-(chocolate)-box ways. For instance, Zohar Gottesman’s Cheese Sculptures and Micha Laury’s Chocolate Soldiers offer edible installments, while Romanian artist Mircea Cantor’s oversized table filled with baguettes, knives and piles of salt sets the stage for those first entering the gallery.
Another exciting interactive aspect of Table Manners comes to us from the French playwright Jeannine Worms, whose culinary plays cast food in intelligent and theatrical roles to characterize gender, class and human relationships. Her two stage productions, The Recipe (La Recette, 1983) and Coffee and Cake (Le Goûter, 1971), will be designed, directed and performed by the students of the Theater Arts Department.
In addition to contemporary artwork and theater, the curatorial team of Dr. Sefy Hendler (chairperson of the Art History Department) and Dr. Sharon Aronson-Lehavi (chairperson of the Theater Arts Department) has organized culinary events, lecture series, film screenings and opportunities to meet leading scholars from a wide range of disciplines to discuss food, society and culture – all within the exhibition space.
Table Manners combats everything your parents told you growing up. The project encourages you to play with your food – to pick it up, examine it, learn from it, love it, and continue the discourse even after leaving the table.
The exhibition runs through July 31. For more information: www.arts.tau.ac.il/ gallery.