CONSIDERING A FUTURE
THAT MAY NOT EVER HAPPEN

‘Considering a future that may not ever happen’ is a commissioned artwork for the exhibition ‘Pantitlán V. Migration & Food’, presented at the OT301, Amsterdam. It seeks to intertwine issues of migration, identity, and nostalgia through the gastronomic manifestations of different migratory points in The Netherlands. The project emerges as a symbolic compensation of privileges, trying to give voice to the pluralities of contexts that surround the spectrum of migration in Europe and restoring the nuances that have disappeared for some reason.

The performance consists of the collection of food recipes from migrants in Europe who — for various reasons such as economic constraints or ingredient availability — haven’t been able to prepare or eat them since their migration. These recipes were then cooked, distributed to the project volunteers and offered for free in the exhibition space.

The action is accompanied by an installation that comprises 256 paper prints. As a whole, they visualise the phrase ‘UNTIL WHEN?’, sourced from articles both for and against migration along with a blurred image of the painting ‘Still Life with Lobster’ by Dutch painter Abraham van Beyeren. This painting was created in the early seventeenth century, coinciding with the onset of the first Dutch colonies.

The project is complemented by some of the recipes, handwritten in the volunteer’s mother tongues, that account for the research processes.

Year — 2019

Medium — Performance, food, installation

Photography — Gran Colectivo Pantitlán