The dossier in issue 13 of ELECTRA is dedicated to Food, at a time when food has become a worldwide trend, culture and cult.
‘Food, eating, cooking, cuisine, restaurants, gastronomy, dietary practices, enology and the art of dining are now, more than ever, prevalent topics everywhere: in conversations, television, newspapers and magazines, social media, conferences and seminars. They are present in universities, museums, businesses, medicine, literature, visual arts, advertising. They are present in ethics, ecology, religion, history, sociology, chemistry, biology, politics, economy, law, media studies, linguistics. Food has recovered its sacred purpose. Restaurants are cult destinations. Chefs and their signature cuisines have become some of the most famous idols of our time. Michelin stars have acquired the prestige once reserved for noble ranks, religious canonisations, literary prizes, the film Oscars or sports cups,’ says the magazine’s editorial.
This topic is addressed here by French historian Patrick Rambourg, author of Histoire de la cuisine et de la gastronomie françaises, which describes the birth of the restaurant in the 19th century and its subsequent evolution; Brazilian sociologist Carlos Alberto Dória is interviewed by journalist Alexandra Prado Coelho, and covers topics such as the phenomenon of gastronomy elevated to the status of a show by the media, and the symbolic construction of ‘national dishes’ determined by historical, cultural and ideological factors; Christopher Kissane, author of Food, Religion and Communities in Early Modern Europe, traces the history of food in Europe and demonstrates how that history is linked to the continent’s political history; Lisa Abend, an American writer and journalist who regularly writes for the Time magazine about gastronomy, reflects on the figure of the chef and how it has been socially constructed gradually since the 1990s until it reached celebrity status; Alexandra Prado Coelho, a journalist specialising in the areas of food and gastronomy, poses the question of moral judgement in relation to food, and the values we project onto what we eat; Carolyn Steel, architect and author of important essays on the city and food, considers the concept of ‘sitopia’, i.e. the world as a place shaped by food; finally, philosopher and cultural historian Thomas Macho reflects on the subject of food based on the cinematographic works by Pasolini.
ELECTRA invited the prestigious Magnum Agency to collaborate in this dossier by having six of its photographers take original pictures about eating and food in various places throughout the world: Alex Webb (Boston, USA), Jacob Aue Sobol (Horslunde, Denmark), Cristina de Middel (Mexico City, (Mexico), Gueorgui Pinkhassov (Saint Petersburg and Moscow, Russia), Martin Parr (Bristol, UK), and Lindokuhle Sobekwa (Johannesburg and Thokoza, South Africa).
As well as the dossier dedicated to Food, this edition also includes other topics of great interest.
In an interview about his life and work, renowned British psychoanalyst and literary critic Adam Phillips talks about the relationship between these two subjects.
The magazine also includes unprecedented artwork by the celebrated Spanish photographer Alberto García-Alix, created in an artistic residency he took in the Prado Museum, in Madrid.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Clarice Lispector’s birth, ELECTRA publishes an essay that unveils a little-known facet of this great Brazilian writer of Ukrainian descent: her subtle relationship with politics. This essay was written by Ricardo Domeneck, Brazilian poet, visual artist and critic. There is another creative featured in this edition, the French stylist Madame Grès, who made a crucial contribution to Parisian couture. Her life and work are covered by Anabela Becho, fashion curator and researcher.
In pandemic times, architect and researcher Daniela Arnaut publishes an essay on the historical relationship between the Hospital and the City; Swedish visual artist and writer Henning Lundkvist finds a strange and surprising connection between two very distant and different cities: Copenhagen and Kabul; and Nathalie Quintane and Olivia Rosenthal, two significant names from the literary and artistic milieu in France, interpret a quote by Virginia Woolf which establishes a link between the condition of women and having access to the writing ‘profession’ based on material constraints.
