This Ain’t Havana: Paladar IN QUeens, with Craig Shillitto, Yoandy Rizo, and Osmany García Fuentes, Queens MuseuM.
Bringing together Queens pit and grill masters from an array of Latin American barbeque traditions, This Ain’t Havana used small dishes as a symbolic journey throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America.
A long wooden table was assembled from one end, while dismantled from the other, as new parties arrived to partake. As guests migrated through the space, the table grew and was devoured, as its disassembled parts fed the fires of the barbeque. In this process, themes of migration and the dispersal of culture through food were explored. The cooks, often overlooked as back of house kitchen staff, stepped into the spotlight as artists, interacting with the dining participants throughout and sharing their experience through live-fed video. Fundamentally, the project asked diners to consider the ways in which conversation and culinary practices work to transmit cultural heritage.
Nortse, 2007. Group Photo.