Food for Thought is a metaphoric visual narrative that dissects the ingredients of food as a lens to see one’s cultural identity beyond nationality. Inspired from my personal experience as an outsider coming from Southeast Asia, often I feel the need to explain my cultural background. Introspective view of one’s culture can be quite complex to communicate, as a response I decided to use food as an analogy to articulate my journey into a thoughtful message.
Creating a Perspective
I’ve discovered that conversations around a simple meal can reveal many values of a culture. Topics such as recipes, who cooked the food, and even the intangibles such as aroma, association with memories or traditions, how a dish was brought from different regions opens up the idea that our heritage isn’t just one linear narrative.
Research question helps in finding the right angle in shaping the script. In social science, the term "foodways" was coined to study the connection of food with culture, history and traditions. Foodways helps as a reflection not only to trace the journey of a particular dish, but also to understand the people.
Narrative & Storyboard
Foodways shifts perspective and opens up layers of a person’s journey. I decided to use my own voice to introduce the experience of moving overseas through the ingredients I’ve explored into my favorite dish. Applying the concept of foodways, I want to deliver the similarity of finding values in our journey that builds our identity.
Initially I want to express my concern around labelling as a living diaspora, however I decided to lighten up the topic into a non-confrontational way of communicating cultural identity. Food comes in as a gateway to tell a deeper story and I hope this perspective could inspire other people that might have experienced similar issues.
Credits
Design, Script & Animation
Vania Chandrawidjaja
Tools
Procreate
Adobe After Effects
Music
"All the Way" by Josef Falkensköld