Fome Come

Fome Come (2012) was a gastroperformance cocktail offered at the 30th Bienal de São Paulo. It focused on the nutritional aspect of the global socio-economic disparities by whimsically portraying the contrast between the supposedly rich and well-fed countries on the northern hemisphere, and the poorer and famine-stricken ones on the southern hemisphere. The installation consisted of hundreds of small boxes hanging at eye level from the ceiling. Each box contained a delicacy from a different region of the planet, made from a carefully chosen recipe. For example, the “Brazil” box had a dried meat pie with catupiry cheese and the African food was represented by Moroccan couscous. The word ‘COME’ (eat) was printed on the sides of the boxes. The different colours were so arranged as to form the word ‘FOME’ (hunger) underneath the installation, which was reflected on a mirror placed horizontally on the floor. Visitors interacted with the installation by removing each box from it in order to get to the treat inside, and thus the whole thing was gradually destroyed. As visitors satisfied their hunger, the word ‘FOME’ (hunger) reflected in the mirror finally disappeared.