Natalia Ruhe 
American/British
1999
Thesis: A Dance with the Rural

 

Soundcloud Natalia Ruhe

 

Grain

As a term applied to both food, agriculture and graphic design, Grain represents a series of experiments in how to generate conversations about various topics through food. These experiments were all made in an effort to see how food can find a place in the context of design and communication.“On Georgia, Traditions, Time, Tensions” is a graduation publication that brings together text, recipes, conversations, history, politics, and my own anecdotes about the culinary roots of Georgia. The work spans topics from misappropriation of food to perspectives on tradition, and is the first in a future publication series.

The posters and handout are a project done in Kosovo, recording the story of Miradije Hamiti, who makes ajvar, the Balkan condiment in the traditional way. The podcast is of a dinner with Elena Braida, an artist and Rietveld alumni, discussing her graduation work, Cucina è Bello. In the podcast, we discussed how she tackled working with food in the context of an art school. My thesis, "A Dance With the Rural", which despite not being about food directly, is an ode and critique to a cookbook, named Honey from a Weed, that was in my mother’s kitchen. It examines how we tend to romanticise the rural environment, and how the rural can be a site for how to reimagine future ways of living.

"The Bread Oven", is a project that was begun in 2019 by Rietveld alumni and was reactivated this year by myself, Melanie Cot, Quirine Kennedy, Martina Vanini and Mila Landreau. Throughout the school year we hosted various events and baking workshops, with the intention to create more welcoming and collective moments in the school community, through the making of bread.