Asian Arts Initiative’s Latest Exhibit is “Pallets & Palates: Placing Taste, Sound and Sight”

Asian Arts Initiative‘s latest exhibit, Pallets & Palates: Placing Taste, Sound and Sight, is a community-oriented research project that aims to facilitate conversations about the sense of taste in relationship to food distribution and transportation systems.

The project, first exhibited at 40th Street AIR Gallery in July 2014, features local collaborating artists Heidi Ratanavanich and Eileen Shumate. For the exhibit, the two have created an environment out of re-purposed industrial pallets.

The idea for the project came from their interest in food production and in how we consume food with our family and friends in both private and public spaces, according to Ratavanich.

“Our fascination with shipping pallets began as a search for accessible material for building shelves and benches but developed into investigating relationships between food accessibility and how shipping pallets play a part in the material distribution of food,” she said.

“The pallet represents a food system built on quantity rather than quality. Pallets & Palates serves to remind us of that food distribution system and show that it connects to larger histories and economies. But we are also interested in showing that personal memories are passed through food processes and traditions, and through these preserved memories we might imagine different food systems, based on different economies.”

In addition, Asian Arts Initiative has planned a community meal and a First Friday reception for the exhibit on February 6. The community meal will feature dishes cooked from ingredients that are grown and prepared from local urban farms, community gardens and backyard plots in Philadelphia.

“Everyone has a food-related story,” Ratanavinch said. “Pallets & Palates encourages us to preserve and share them.”

The exhibit runs at Asian Arts Initiative from January 16 to February 20. Find out more information at http://asianartsinitiative.org/event/pallets-palates.

Image via Asian Arts Initiative