V&A unveiled new exhibition FOOD Bigger than the Plate (photo by Tianxing Bai)

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has unveiled its new exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate, which explores how innovative individuals, communities and organizations are radically reinventing how we grow, distribute and experience food. The exhibition will run from 28-30 June, taking visitors on a sensory journey through the food cycle from compost to table. It poses questions about how the collective choices we make can lead to a more sustainable, fair and delicious food future in unexpected and fun ways.

The exhibition falls at a pivotal time in which our relationship with food has become a topic of global interest and debate. Over 70 contemporary projects, new commissions and creative collaborations by artists and designers working with chefs, farmers, scientists, and local communities will be displayed, centered around four sections: ‘Compost’, ‘Farming’, ‘Trading’ and ‘Eating’.

‘Compost’ examines diverse projects that aim to create a more resilient food system by closing the nutrient loop and changing our perception of waste. Exploring bold ideas to reinvent our relationship with the landscapes, organisms, and people that yield our food, ‘Farming’ explores innovative urban, open-source and social farming projects, as well as new technologies that might change how we grow food. ‘Trading’ poses questions about more transparent and diverse ways of buying, selling and transporting food. ‘Eating’ explores the role of the table, the challenges we face in feeding the world, and the power of deliciousness, as well as a look at scientific experiments, ingredients and recipes pushing the boundaries of cooking.

This timely exhibition draws on the V&A’s close links with food, including over thirty historical objects from the V&A collections – including influential early food adverts, illustrations and ceramics – providing further context to the exhibition. Built on the site of Brompton Nursery, the V&A housed an early food museum and opened the world’s first purpose-built museum refreshment rooms over 150 years ago. The V&A café, catered by Benugo, remains central to the museum, linking food culture and the visual arts.

Catherine Flood and May Rosenthal Sloan, co-curators of FOOD: Bigger than the Plate at the V&A, said: “Food is one of the most powerful tools through which we shape the world we live in, from how we create society, culture and pleasure to how we determine our relationship with the natural world. In an era of major ecological challenges, fast-changing societies and technological re-invention, now is a crucial moment to ask not just what will we be eating tomorrow, but what kind of food future do we want? What could it look like and taste like? Today, a wide range of inspiring creative practitioners are addressing these expansive questions. Putting food at the heart of the museum, this exhibition is an exciting opportunity to bring together some of the best in the industry to explore food as a rich ground for citizenship, subversion and celebration.” (Tianxing Bai)