70 x 7 The Meal Act XXXII, MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo Rome, 2011

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Date: 2011
Materials: Table setting for 300 guests, invitation cards filled with seeds, Royal Limoges porcelain plates (Two editions of Ed 1500), helium balloons filled with seeds
Exhibition history: 2011 MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome, Italy
Courtesy: The Artists and Fondazione Umberto Veronesi

Act thirty-two of 70 x7 The Meal was staged at the MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo in Rome, in collaboration with the Italian medical research foundation Umberto Veronesi. In the splendid piazza designed by Zaha Hadid, guests were invited to take part in Lucy + Jorge Orta’s installation and performance Sew the seeds to cultivate artist gardeners. The Fondazione Umberto Veronesi pioneers research on the benefits of specific plant based molecules in the prevention of cancer and the artists transcribed drawings of these nutritional fruits and vegetables, along with their molecular structures, onto the edition of Royal Limoges porcelain plates commissioned for the evening. On each of the tables they attached immense bouquets of black helium balloons filled with plant seeds, and in a ceremonial launch the ribbons of each balloon were cut to float gracefully into the skies and disperse seeds throughout the city of Rome.