“Jantar Daninho: roots and fungi”, an edible installation, artist talk and supper by Inês Coelho da Silva and Monika Błoch (Venn Canteen).
In Portuguese, we refer to "daninhas" as the plants we don't recognise, disregard, and pull out of our gardens and flowerbeds. The word derives from "damnum": loss, damage, harm. However, many of these spontaneous plants which voluntarily take root in neighbouring spaces are vital for the biodiversity of ecosystems, the functioning of underground networks, and the fertility of the soil.
As winter sets in and life retreats within the soil, plants shift their focus from upward growth to downward expansion, storage and development; the roots become not only reservoirs of energy, but the very hubs of life’s underground communication. Together with roots, fungi expand their mycorrhizal networks, creating a web for exchanging resources and information between countless organisms.
In this event, we will explore how these underground exchanges resonate with broader themes of decentralised power, resilience and inter-species care through the intersection of art, ecology, and food systems. We adopt a postnatural lens to examine how soil cycles impact the way we, as humans and holobionts, inhabit planet “Terra” in multispecies communities.
This edible entanglement will be composed of earthly appetisers, an artist talk and open discussion, a warm supper featuring organic fungi and roots, and wild fermented drinks.
All food served will be vegan and gluten-free.
What to expect
Edible soil
Wild dips
‘Branch’ crackers
Dandelion roots and other "raízes daninhas"
Various fungi
Gluten-free bread (acorn based)
“The roots make the soil and the subterranean world a space of spiritual communication. Thanks to them, then, the most solid part of the Earth is transformed into an enormous planetary brain through which matter circulates, along with information on the identity and state of the organisms that populate the surrounding environment.”
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Inês Coelho da Silva (b. 1996) is an artist and researcher in the fields of art, food, and ecology, based in Santa Maria da Feira, PT. Drawing from food-related contexts, her artistic work investigates ecological thinking and political superstructures through edible and tacit knowledge. Engaging with sculpture, food-making, textiles, ceramics, botany, and crafts, she identifies the kitchen table as a multi-layered topos for reflecting on shared traditions, identities, and emotions, while reflecting on the simultaneous acts of eating and being eaten as forms of care. Between edible soils and wild salads, her collections of visual poems open discussions on local foodscapes, overlooked ecosystems, and opportunities for symbiosis in a shared world. Inês works as a researcher and tutor at The Gramounce, an organisation that develops alternative education programmes focused on art, food, and politics. Inês has recently collaborated with institutions and organisations such as Domaine de Boisbuchet (FR), the Royal College of Art (UK), Mediamatic (NL), the Basque Culinary Center (ES), La Foresta (IT), the Institute for Postnatural Studies (ES), Oficinas do Convento (PT), Terzo Paesaggio (IT), and Rural Contemporánea (ES), among others.
