 |
Cornelis de Heem, Still-Life with Oysters, Lemons and Grapes, 1660s (www.wga.hu)
|
A
few months ago I attended an academic conference “Kultura jedzenia,
jedzenie w kulturze” [Culture of Food, Food in Culture] in Kraków organised by Kultiwarium Festival. The programme was very diverse
but I had time to take part in only one session: Artistic and
Literary Aspects of Food. As an English literature and art history
graduate I could not miss it for the world. :)
 |
Pieter de Bloot, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 1637(www.wga.hu)
|
I
especially liked the presentation called “Cena Non Finita. Tables,
Pantries, and Victuals in the 17th-century Netherlandish
Painting.” As the Latin title suggested, it was an unending feast –
a feast of fruit, vegetables, meats and other delicacies painted with
such a precision that one can discern even the particular varieties
of grapes. Interestingly, these highly realistic paintings were not
always painted from nature, as they often depict compositions of
flowers or fruits which grow during different months or even seasons.
 |
Frans Snyders, Still Life, 1635-1639 (www.wga.hu)
|
Apart
from the purely aesthetic function, these appetizing still lifes had
also many hidden meanings. There are a lot of various interpretations
but the most popular motifs included vanitas, i.e. “vanity” in
Latin (rotten fruit, withered flowers, unfinished meals); and
religious themes (chalice with wine, bread). I also learned that
lemon symbolised a false friend because it's beautiful from the
outside but bitter inside, and cheese was considered by some Dutch
and Flemish doctors to be the source of all the diseases. ;)
 |
Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931 (source)
|
A
presentation on edible beauty in Salvador Dalí's art also promised
to be interesting. Though the speakers spent most of the time
discussing Dalí's biography, they also mentioned some interesting
connections between his art and food. I learned that his most famous
painting “The Persistence of Memory” was inspired by Camembert
cheese melting in the sun. Moreover, Dalí loved both his wife, Gala,
and lamb chops so ardently that he decided to depict them together in
one painting, placing raw chops on Gala's shoulder. Yummy. :P
 |
Salvador Dali, Portrait of Gala with Two Lamb Chops Balanced on Her Shoulder, 1933 (source)
|
I
found a lecture on grotesque descriptions of food in literature
exceptionally funny. The speaker presented a surreal menu: six
pilgrims in a salad from “The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel,”
sturgeon of the second freshness from “The Master and Margarita,”
and some absurd dishes from Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's play “The
Shoemakers,” as well as humorous poems by the Polish Nobel Laurate
Wisława Szymborska.
 |
Witkacy, Stworzenie świata, 1921-1922 (source)
|
For
dessert, we were served a passionate speech on fat body of white men
in crime novels. One of the examples was my favourite Agatha
Christie's Hercule Poirot, whose plumpness and misleadingly benign
looks often gave him an upper hand. By the way, did you know that
Poirot's name has the same pronunciation as “poireau,” a French
word meaning leek? :)
 |
Hercule Poirot played by David Suchet in the ITV television series (source)
|
I'm
really glad I could take part in the conference on food and culture.
All the presentations were very well prepared and engaging. However,
I think the topic of food in painting and literature is so broad that
it deserves its own conference, not only one session. What do you
think?
Conference website: http://www.kn.psc.uj.edu.pl/ and facebook
Kultiwarium website: http://www.kultiwarium.pl/
Titles of all the presentations in Polish:
PANEL XII - ARTYSTYCZNE I LITERACKIE OBLICZA KUCHNI
1. Cena non finita. Stoły, spiżarnie i wiktuały w siedemnastowiecznym malarstwie niderlandzkim – motywy i interpretacje - ALINA BARCZYK
2. Jadalne piękno – pierwiastki kulinarne w surrealistycznej twórczości Salvadora Dalego - ŁUKASZ KURP, IZABELA STĄPOR
3. Nie tylko magdalenki... Groteskowe obrazy kulinariów i ucztowania w literaturze - ANNA KUCHTA
4. Smaki literackiego stołu. Kulinarne preferencje bohaterów polskiej prozy najnowszej - ANNA FIGA
5. Jedzenie w powieści kryminalnej: co o detektywie i męskości mówi grube ciało? - MARTA USIEKNIEWICZ
