70 x 7 The Meal Act XXIX, La Venaria Reale, Torino, 2008

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Date: 2008
Materials: Table setting for 150 guests, Limited edition Royal Limoges porcelain plates (Ed 150), performance to prepare the basic ingredients for a potato soup, calico bags with vegetables
Exhibition history: 2008 La Venaria Reale, Turin, Italy
Courtesy: The Artists and Family Events

The twenty-ninth Act of 70 x 7 The Meal was staged inside the historical Savoy palace of Venaria Reale. 150 guests were assembled to launch the Fondazione Slow Food per la Biodiversità Onlus initiative in support of the Andean potato research project founded by the Cooperativa Cauqueva (Cooperativa Agropecuaria y Artesanal Union Quebrada y Valles), situated in Northern Argentina. The symbol of the meal was the ubiquitous potato, a vital food staple of Andean populations. A potato soup recipe imagined by Lucy + Jorge Orta was transcribed onto the Royal Limoges porcelain plates along with delicate drawings of the vegetable species. The menu designed in collaboration with chef Alfredo Russo, from Dolce Stil Novo restaurant, took the form of a ‘democratic’ meal. The soup was chosen because it crosses across all socio-economic groups with different staple origins. During the different courses of soups, of various textures, tastes and colours, performers peeled, chopped and sliced ingredients for a potato soup from a mountain of vegetables piled across the dining tables. At the end of the evening, small bags of produce were handed out to guests in calico cotton goodie bags along with the recipe inscribed on the porcelain edition.