3 museums - Unique dining worlds in St. Gallen: Culinary voyage of discovery on the subject of food and drink

In 2024, the St.Gallen Abbey Library, the St.Gallen Culture Museum and the St.Gallen Textile Museum will open their doors for a unique journey through culinary traditions from around the world. Under the common theme of "Eating and Drinking", these museums present three fascinating exhibitions that shed light on different facets of this everyday yet complex topic. Immerse yourself in the "World of Food" and discover the historical, cultural and textile significance of food and drink in the St.Gallen-Lake Constance region.

Tip: The three museums can be visited at low cost with the St.Gallen Museum Pass.

Textile Museum St. Gallen: All You CanNOT Eat: Fake food on fabric
The exhibition All You CanNOT Eat is modeled on a restaurant. Thirteen tables covered with the finest white cloth await the guests, who are not served anything to eat or drink. Selected objects from the Textile Museum's collection inspired artists and designers to create installations that depict and interpret food - fake food. Different eras, social classes and tastes come together and enter into an exciting dialog.
The varied dishes on offer are linked by the triangle culinaire of cultural anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who distinguishes le cru (the raw) from le cuit (the cooked) and le pourri (the rotten). By turning nature into culture, transforming the raw into the cooked, we create a variety of cultural practices in our food preparation: boiling, grilling or steaming are just a few of them. The rotting, on the other hand
we try to preserve rotting food through fermentation, curing, freezing or dehydration. Similarly, we try to stop things from disappearing by representing them: We reproduce edible things true to nature so that they are preserved forever and never perish.

Table Company, installation Jana Besimo, Valerie Meta Eherenbold, Lisa Schöpflin, "All You canNOT Eat. Fake Food on Fabric/ All You canNOT Eat. Fake Food on Fabric", Textile Museum St. Gallen, Photo: Laurids Jensen

All You CanNOT Eat examines table culture with regard to fake food in an exhibition and a series of events. Prints and imitations of edible food in fashion will also be examined.
A participatory project with the collaboration of Association Verdre, Marta Birt, Beni Bischof, Tatiana Boiko, Kristina Bucheli, Julie Chauland, Collective Swallow by Anaïs Marti, Estelle Gassmann, Sven Gex, Sarena Huizinga, Infantium Victoria by Dinie van den Heuvel, Terézia Krnáčová, Lapidar (Jessica Celis, Salomon Elsler, Elena Völkle, Nadine Werner), Alfred Leuzinger/ open art museum, Léonie Ludovicy, Pauline Lutz, Madame Europe, Madame Tricot, Yves Meier, Pusha Petrov, Carlo Rampazzi, Joan Sallas, Sinnlich Essen (Sabrina Berger, Cajetana Oechslin, Larissa Riesen, Lisa Rubio), Natalia Solo-Mâtine, Sabina Speich, taktik:haptik (Lisa Blaser, Zora Weidkuhn, Nathan Werlen), Tischgesellschaft (Jana Besimo, Valerie Meta Ehrenbold, Lisa Schöpflin).
April 12 to October 13, 2024
www.textilmuseum.ch

Culture Museum St. Gallen: CACAO! INCORPORATED EXOTICISM
The special exhibition traces the history of cocoa. The journey begins almost 2000 years ago in the palaces of the Mayan kings in the Mesoamerican rainforest, where they were served frothy cocoa drinks in elaborate vessels. From the 16th century onwards, European sailors brought the cocoa fruit home. High society enjoyed the luxury of the exotic, and the new taste experience was celebrated with exquisite tableware. Industrialization turned cocoa into one of the world's highest-selling and most lucrative commodities. During the colonial era, the West African countries of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were the main cocoa-growing regions, and they remain so to this day. Swiss producers have positioned themselves excellently. The exhibition sheds light on how this has been achieved and what goes on behind the scenes, as well as the bean-to-bar counter-movement. The extensive accompanying program also offers lectures and tastings.
March 9 to October 20, 2024
https://kulturmuseumsg.ch

View of the exhibition © Kulturmuseum St. Gallen

Abbey Library of St. Gall: Blessed food - eating and drinking in the Middle Ages
Eating and drinking are among the most important things we do. What and how we eat tells us a lot about ourselves. The Abbey Library of St.Gallen has preserved a unique source for the cuisine of the Middle Ages in the form of the food blessings of Ekkehart IV from the 11th century. On this basis, the exhibition embarks on a journey of discovery into the food culture of the past.
The Abbey Library of St.Gallen takes you on a journey into the Middle Ages with the exhibition Blessed Food. Find out what the food blessings of Ekkehart IV from the 11th century reveal about the cuisine of the time. This unique source provides an insight into the food culture of past eras and shows how food and drink shape our identity.
April 23 to November 10, 2024
www.stiftsbezirk.ch