CUISINE EXISTENTIELLE by Lei Saito
with Lei Saito in conversation with Maria Barnas at 8.30 pm
Thursday June 23, 8pmphoto by Lukas Gansterer
Born in Japan, Lei Saito has been based in Paris since 2003 and was a resident at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 2010 until 2011. Her interest in history, in narratives that are superimposed in layers, has led her to explore different techniques: photoengraving, sculpture, photography, installations, and drawing. This book focuses on her series of performances and culinary installations, the ‘Cuisine Existentielle’. Involving a complex set of references and meanings, and drawing from art history, mythology, and language, Saito’s compositions are a hybridisation between culinary traditions, eras, and flavours that form a new, interactive story. Texts by Alain Kruger, Agnieszka Gratza, and Thomas Schlesser complement this sensory existential journey.