San José Museum of Art

See what you think.

Around the Table: food, creativity, community

  • A black and white photograph of a female holding a small square box filled with dirt and several leaves sprouting out in her left hand, and her right hand makes the thumbs up gesture. The background is filled with nature—trees and grass.

    Karen Lemon
    Planting Your Dreams
    Photo Courtesy Pajaro Valley Arts Council

  • A male with his hair tied back stands in front of a wall covered with a yellow diamond pattern. Within each yellow diamond are 3 circles nested within each other, and a line that runs horizontal through the middle of them.

    Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik
    To Curry Favor, 2011
    Curry powder from Oasis Food Market, Oakland, California and adhesive on wall
    Site specific installation
    20 × 3 feet
    Courtesy of the artist

  • Fallen Fruit (David Burns and Austin Young)
    Modern Women #1, 2013
    Digital print
    30 × 40 inches
    Courtesy of the artists

  • Jitish Kallat
    Epilogue, 2010–2011
    Pigment print on archival paper
    753 prints
    11 3/16 × 14 3/8 inches each
    Display dimensions variable
    Courtesy Jitish Kallat Studio

  • Matt Moore
    Lifecycles, 2010
    Mixed media
    Courtesy the artist

  • Angela Buenning Filo
    Tractor, San Jose, 2004
    Chromogenic print
    38 × 30 inches
    Courtesy of the artist

  • Sam Van Aken
    Tree of 40 Fruits, 2008—ongoing (artist’s rendering)
    Grafted fruit tree
    Dimensions variable
    Edition of 25
    Courtesy of the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts

    –

    [ Artists ]     [ Partners ]     [ Calendar ]

    You are what you eat. This exhibition—the catalyst for an accompanying festival of activities presented by thirty partnering organizations—celebrates and explores the role that food plays in our lives. The agricultural bounty of our region has brought waves of immigration (Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Mexican, Vietnamese) and shaped a rich history of cultural diversity, which today we share in part via food. From food trucks to molecular gastronomy, food helps define the Bay Area’s communities. 

    Every time you sit down to eat, you make choices. In today’s world, food has social, economic, and political implications. Food is charged with pleasures—and with meaning.

    Around the Table unfolds in three stages at SJMA this fall, and extends far beyond the Museum’s walls. In conjunction with this expansive project, SJMA is also piloting a new, integrated arts-education initiative, “Sowing Creativity.” And some thirty partner organizations are participating in the extensive community festival of food, creativity, and community. Activities include gleaning tours, farm visits, performances, and exhibitions.

    Around the Table Stages

    Around the Table, Stage One: Jitish Kallat: Epilogue
    Around the Table, Stage Two: food, creativity, community
    Around the Table, Stage Three: Talk Around the Table

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