00:00Продолжение следует...
00:30...and cultural exchange from the emergence of Islam to present day.
00:38Bread is an important staple in many religions and cultures.
00:43While in Arab countries, the name of the clay oven may differ slightly...
00:47...tannur, tandir, tandoor, or tonur...
00:50...depending on the particular part of the Middle East, Central, or South Asia...
00:54...unleavened flatbread is the common denominator.
00:57There are different bread-making traditions that help to define different cultures and communities...
01:04...but despite those differences, essentially everyone can come together and break bread.
01:10And that's the message that we wanted to start off the exhibition with.
01:13The exhibition explores the evolution of food.
01:16For co-curator Taslim Sani, food and faith play big roles across the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Middle East.
01:25The Islamic faith really plays a key role for Muslims in determining what they should eat...
01:30...what's considered permissible and what they should stay away from.
01:34So we thought of bringing this to the forefront to also teach the audience...
01:38...or at least pass a message to the visitors that the faith of Muslims is critically important in their relationship with food.
01:46Dr. Tara Desjardins says throughout history, cuisines evolved as new ingredients were introduced.
01:54The trade of certain ingredients at specific moments in time have helped to inform cultures...
02:01...and dishes that are a result of that culture that today we might take for granted.
02:06And we don't know perhaps where they came from and the long journeys that they traveled.
02:13Those long journeys brought cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper westward from Asia to the Middle East in Europe...
02:20...while corn, potatoes, and peppers traveled east across the Atlantic.
02:26The chili pepper actually came from the Americas.
02:29It was one of the quote-unquote new world ingredients that was brought over during Christopher Columbus's second return voyage.
02:37And it arrived into Europe and then into Asia by the 16th century.
02:45And in Indian cuisine, it was assimilated very, very quickly...
02:49...because they probably already had a strong taste for, you know, biting ginger, strong pepper, things like this...
02:56...that were already indigenous and very prominent in their cuisine.
03:01And so they received it very, very, very warmly.
03:05And they also started to then grow it locally.
03:09The curators invite visitors to think critically about their relationship with the environment...
03:15...and where their food comes from.
03:17A lot of times we don't think about the sort of backstage efforts that goes into food production.
03:22So the kind of water that goes into it, the amount of land mass that is used...
03:26...and how this ends up affecting our environment and our society.
03:29So the idea is just to have people go away with that thought.
03:32Thinking about, okay, what role do they have to play in a globally changing and evolving world...
03:38...and, you know, becoming a world that's becoming more complex.
03:42Similar to the foods and spices that migrated from one place to another...
03:46...Anneke Weber is originally from Germany, but is now based in Qatar.
03:50It's very nice. It's very interactive.
03:53I like that we're watching also the part where you can smell the different stuff.
03:57That was really nice.
03:59And then also you have, like, old Koran.
04:02And, yeah, it's an interesting mixture.
04:03You have something for children, but also something for older people.
04:06So, yeah, I feel this really unites.
04:09And, yeah, everyone likes to eat at the end of the day.
04:12A seat at the table is essentially that everyone can come and participate in food, food culture.
04:20And it speaks not only to the inclusivity of food, but also the fact that food is something that unites people...
04:26...more than maybe anything in today's day and age.
04:29This is likely the most photographed part of the exhibition, the reimagination of what dining with the sultan would look like.
04:37And, no, the food is not real.
04:39It's actually made of paper mache and produced by 40 first-year VCU Qatar students.
04:45It's a class project titled Ramadan Feast, showcasing the variety of foods used to traditionally break the fast.
04:52A seat at the table runs until later this year.
