Feast & Fast

Food defines us as individuals, communities, and nations: we are what we eat and, equally, what we don’t eat. When, where, why, how and with whom we eat are crucial to our identity. Feast & Fast presents novel approaches to understanding the history and culture of food and eating.

This research‐led multi-sensory exhibition will showcase hidden and newly conserved treasures from the Fitzwilliam and other collections, and features four spectacular historical reconstructions with food at their centre, including a Jacobean sugar banquet, a European feasting table and a Georgian confectioner’s workshop. It will tease out many contemporary and controversial issues – such as the origins of food and food security, over-consumption in times of austerity, and our relationship with animals and nature – thereby linking the past with our present, and encouraging visitors to question and rethink our relationship with food.

To complement Feast & Fast, a flamboyant 4-metre tall pineapple installation created by Bompas and Parr – experts in multi-sensory experience design – will be displayed on the Museum’s front lawn for the duration of the exhibition and illuminated at night.