Canada - Exhibit "Food in Federico Fellini's drawings"
On November 18th, Simona Caselli, Councillor for Agriculture of Emilia-Romagna Region, opened the exhibition Food in Federico Fellini’s drawings.
It is one of the many events organized by Emilia-Romagna Region in Canada on the occasion of the 3rd Week of the Italian Cuisine in the World, to present its excellence products in a Country representing a relevant market for Emilia-Romagna.
The exhibit fully depicts an element -food- which belongs to Fellini’s imaginary as childhood and dreaming do.
In the foreword of the book A tavola con Fellini – Ricette da Oscar della sorella Maddalena (At table with Fellini - Oscar-worthy recipes by his sister Maddalena), Tonino Guerra tells a funny anecdote about Fellini’s relation with food.
I’ve no idea how it happened, but whenever Federico put his fork down by the side of a bowl of spaghetti, a drop of sauce always splashed onto his tie. Eyes popping out of her head, Giulietta started shouting at him. But something worse happened as well. One morning, we were about to leave the Bar Canova in Piazza del Popolo when a waiter placed a basket of bread rolls filled with mortadella on the counter.
«You can’t give up mortadella», Federico told me.
«I’m full.»
«Me too…but mortadella is the taste of our childhood.»
«Buy one for us to share, then.»
And so he did. When he tried to break the roll in two, a piece of fat flew into the air and fell down onto Fellini’s back. We went straight to his house to give the made the jacket, but Giulietta was there. She threw herself on the couch shouting: «You’ve got to be the very first man in the world who’s managed to get grease on his back! »
Federico sat down ruefully next to her and said in a low voice: «But it’s always a satisfaction to be the first to do something.»
On exhibit, 19 drawings made by the Maestro in different moments of his career, almost all splattered at the table, often made on paper and on cloth napkins. They mostly come from his “Libro dei sogni” (the Book of Dreams), a dreamlike journal kept for about thirty years, that at present is exhibited in the Rimini City Museum.
The exhibit is organized by: Italian Cultural Institute in Toronto; Columbus Centre, Villa Chairities; Office for Cultural activities abroad of Emilia-Romagna Region; Association Amarcord; in collaboration with Casa Artusi and Consulta degli Emiliano-Romagnoli nel mondo.
The opening evening also included a brief presentation of the Italian food scene in Toronto by Rita De Montis, Lifestyle and Food Editor at the Toronto Sun and the lecture Food and media: from Warhol to Instagram by Prof. Paolo Granata, University of Toronto.
Food in Federico Fellini’s drawings is set at the Carrier Art Gallery of the Columbus Centre in Toronto, where it will be open until the 13th January 2019.