Breathing through Food – Rebuilding Sovereignty against Food Imperialism

How to explore and dismantle the legacies of food imperialism and capitalist food systems? A three-day event series invites people to reflect on how colonial and imperial systems have shaped the global food landscape. It explores pathways to reclaim food sovereignty through community-building, local agriculture and shared food practices. It also addresses topics such as how capitalism and colonialism disrupted indigenous agricultural practices and the engagement with alternatives to industrialized agriculture by promoting local and sustainable food practices. The project brings together local communities in Vienna — farmers, migrants and diasporic groups — with the wider public to exchange knowledge about food, land and cultures. It considers food as a medium for connection, storytelling, solidarity and creation of sustainable, decolonized communities. It celebrates the power of solidarity and food as a means to bring people together, highlighting the politicization of food and the capitalist push for dependence on store-bought, industrial and regulated goods.

The multifaceted program starts with an interactive tour through Austria’s biggest urban farming project and includes video screenings and a tasting station. The second part activates storytelling and healing through storytelling cycles, hands on workshops on skills like pickling and fermentation. Dedicated to collective nourishment, community and resistance, the final event invites visitors to participate in community food practices, to learn about diy food sovereignty tools and includes a public performance.

Credits

Project Leads: Yasmin Ahmad, Iulian Ganciu

Artistic Lead: Sîdal Keskin

Groups: Hevra Collective, Rest as Resistance Vienna, Kulturverein Salettl, Abya Yala Collective, Fondation La Grande, Verein Mendy

Artist: Salma Shaka

Accounting: Johanna Brandt