How would you like to try a burger made from cultured meat, milk from a robotic cow or potatoes from a different planet? According to a speculative new exhibition curated by Next Nature, food fantasies like these might be closer to reality than we think. Presented at the Evoluon in Eindhoven, Spacefarming is a show that explores how and what we will eat in the future, where more food will be needed than we can produce today. With many of our natural resources dwindling due to the impacts of climate change, how will we find new ways to sustain ourselves as a species? Can creative solutions help usher in a new era of agriculture, in this world or the next? And what changes can we expect from the way food is experienced and enjoyed?
The programme features diverse reflections on these questions by artists, technologists, philosophers and activists like Alice Wong, Arne Hendriks and Chloé Rutzerveld as well as influential studios like SPACE10 and Sharp & Sour. Visitors can expect an immersive exhibition design, in which geodesic domes house a multitude of surprising ideas and innovations, from lab-grown meat substitutes to insect-powered cookbooks. Also participating is Make it Circular Challenge winner Malu Luecking, whose project Landless Food investigates the potential of microalgae as a source of nutrition and a vessel through which we could regenerate extinct flavours and culinary traditions. As Koert van Mensvoort, director of Next Nature, says: ‘We are at the beginning stage of a new food revolution. The ideas we present here are just the tip of the innovation iceberg, but it gives me confidence that the world will be able to feed 10 billion people by 2050.’
Exhibition images by Next Nature.
Spacefarming is open now and will also be available to visit during Dutch Design Week 2023, taking place in Eindhoven this October. For those seeking a deeper understanding of the exhibition, Next Nature will release a magazine on Spacefarming (in Dutch and English), available for purchase starting from 24 September at the Evoluon museum shop and online. Learn more here.
Landless Food by Malu Luecking.