Dutch Design Week 2024: Food as a catalyst for connection

The Netherlands – Food is often used to explore broader topics and Dutch Design Week 2024 saw artists and designers using it to encourage empathy and connection towards each other and the environment.

The theme for the Embassy of Food’s exhibition was Redesigning Food Relationships. Food justice organisation Public Food opened a free vending machine to spark conversations around food insecurity, stating that ‘one in seven Dutch citizens suffer from some form of food insecurity.’ Looking to newer technologies, Mock Wild by Zack Denfeld used artificial intelligence to rethink our approach to sustainable, healthy eating. As part of the project, the MVP x FFF Food Computer took into account harvest dates and user preferences to create seasonal and sustainable nutritious recipes. 

The Board of Dinner by Deep Food and Joseph Wan used a recipe generator to explore how explainable AI (XAI) can foster empathy through food. By making the AI’s decision-making process transparent and controllable, the project positioned AI as a collaborative, relatable tool that helps users understand and appreciate different culinary traditions. It encouraged empathy by using food as a bridge between cultures, demonstrating how AI can facilitate deeper connections and cultural exchange through the shared experience of eating. 

Another installation using AI came from Spicy Bites, a collective of students from Design Academy Eindhoven and Hongik University. They presented MS.BIBIMCHILLIKAAS, an installation where users could generate absurd AI recipes to mimic the ‘diasporic experience of transformation that we experience through food.’ Similarly, Eindhoven culinary collective To Be Cooked presented Food Untold, a street stand encouraging non-EU artists to share and serve recipes from their hometowns. The installation questioned how our culinary pasts affect our current values and if food can be a driver for cultural awareness.

Stay tuned for our round-up of Dutch Design Week 2024.