Gulp

La Rada - space for contemporary art in Locarno is pleased to present Gulp, a group exhibition curated by Clara Chavan and Katia Leonelli. The exhibition Gulp takes as its starting point the various events that lead to, or can result in, the act of swallowing. Be it a mouthful, a sip or a gag reflex. Clara Chavan and Katia Leonelli have invited Zahrasadat Hakim, Phoebe-Lin Elnan, RM, Clara Roumégoux and Jacopo Valentini to interpret this gulp and its implications. Their proposals bring the audience from the Via Emilia to the Pacha Ibiza Club, after a walk around strangely displayed elements from the domestic and professional culinary worlds and the remains of a cake-adjacent performance. Each artist in their own way seized on this onomatopoeia to develop a critique of the present time. Writers Cassiane Pfund and Larissa Tiki Mbassi have been invited to come up with textual works that unfold in the pages of the publication Buffet Maisonné. Along with the questions of the artists exhibited into the space of La Rada, they develop a sensitive discourse, written with two or four hands, exploring the spectrum between theory and poetry. Illustrations by Juliette Lépineau and Jessy Razafimandimby accompany these reflections and establish a link not only with the works on display, but also with the Locarno region. Having also taken on the artistic direction of Buffet Maisonné, they have produced a RISO-printed edition of 120 copies, which will hopefully keep many mouths watering long after December 17, 2023. Kitchen, meal, grub, schluck, yum yum, gastronomy, stamm — both the contents of plates and glasses and all that surrounds them — are media for exchange, pretexts for creating and maintaining relationships, for fighting against anomie. Understanding and observing the phenomenology of a mouthful may provide us with the answers we need to take care of each other.