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NOMADI
Interactive installation

Directed by Ali Zaidi

Artwork design: Stefano Sburlati and Vanessa Vozzo

A portrait of coffee, rice and wheat, Nomadi, is an homage to migration and culture.

“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.”
William Blake

If viewed from a different perspective, the ordinary can become extraordinary. As modern day consumers most of us buy our food ingredients from super markets and shops following a principle of loyalty to brands. Nomadi is an interactive space making us rethink our habits and notions in relation to food. Together, let us rediscover the distant history of coffee, rice and wheat in a dialogue with the here and now. In the hands of each of us these simple ingredients may give birth to so many different dishes. The movements of peoples and resources are inscribed in the recipes and food we cook and eat.

Nomadi is a celebration of natural and cultural diversity and of the strong bonds that bind us together, from the intimacy of the home to the typical restaurants of our beautiful Turin.

“The cultural exchange of the hungry migrant is all about food and it performs a unique magic of connectivity, joining peoples and their children to distant ‘homes’, to past lives, to utensils, ingredients dietary traditions and health outcomes. It forms the basis of culture and memory. Food is often the initial point of contact through which difference is observed, discussed and celebrated. Sharing food is the perfect and inevitable vehicle through which the inter-cultural understanding can blossom.” Ali Zaidi

Discover the nomad in you. Each plinth has many stories to tell – enjoy!

Nomadi is an interactive installation in which the visitor is involved in an impressive audio-visual path consisting of more than 50 videos that reveals the origins of three ingredients: rice, wheat and coffee.
Nomadi has been realized thanks to the work of 40 students from DAMS (University of Turin) and Cinema and Media Engineering (Polytechnic of Turin) who with great professionalism and passion, under the artistic direction of Ali Zaidi and thanks to the Officine Sintetiche media designers and tutors, reveal delicious culinary secrets.
Nomadi consists of audio-visual contents (video, graphics, photos, sounds) coordinated through a digital interactive system based on Isadora software and open source Arduino platform that allows you to actively involve the audience.

Nomadi was presented at the PAV Parco Arte Vivente Turin in December 2013. The work has been set in PAV from January to March 2014.