Installed in the mezzanine of the #32bienal, Jorge Menna Barreto‘s project Restauro [Restoration] (2016) is at once a work of art and a restaurant which raises questions about our eating habits and their impact on the environment.

The menu was developed in partnership with nutritionist and chef Neka Menna Barreto  and the Escola Como Como de Ecogastronomia, placing priority on the diversity of the plant kingdom. The collective Grupo Inteiro came up with spatial project and what the artist describes as “microclimates,” the relationship between the space and the diner’s experience. At Restauro, people can eat while reading, together with others or while listening – the third option, the result of a partnership with Marcelo Wasem, offers visitors interviews with farmers and soundscapes recorded in agroforests.

How does food reach consumers? How does the metabolic and digestive process work? The act of eating awakens us to the uses of the earth and the environment in which we live. Foods that revive biodiversity and whose cultivation helps replenish the soil can be found at Restauro every week: “Inspired by extracts from agroforests, we are thinking of the experience of a dish which is not horizontal, but which consists of vertical layers. This is why we are using jars, like, for instance, in the case of P#1: a manioc purée covered by a cauliflower salad. More than just dishes, we think of these constructions as landscapes contained in glass, thus also suggesting a relationship between food and the environment,” suggests the artist.

Stay tuned to Restauro’s menus posted on the project’s Facebook and Instagram (@restauro32bienal) fan pages and participate in the experience.