The second half of the project ROOTED RITUALS proposed urban explorations across landscapes and communities through a performative workshop format using action-cards. The second stage, Camminare tra Culture, transformed the city into a stage of encounters and memories, interweaving urban food systems and cultural diversity. Along Via Padova, a symbolic multicultural neighborhood, participants followed a silent itinerary, observing how food, traditions, and communities influence one another. This sensory and participatory experience opened spaces for dialogue with the urban fabric, revealing forms of exchange and coexistence that food generates within multicultural spaces, and unveiling the city as an ecosystem of shared relationships.

The participants walked along Via Padova on a silent itinerary, combining practices of writing, drawing, and performative actions throughout the multicultural neighborhood. In SCENTS OF A JOURNEY, they noted words inspired by the scents of a local Asian food store and shared them with other participants. With URBAN CONTRASTS, they drew marks representing the contrasts between buildings, colors, and surrounding cultures. In IN WAITING, they observed people at the bus stop and assumed postures expressing desire and suspension. During SECRET GARDEN, they discovered gestures and movements that integrated them with the greenery of the corridor. In COLLECTIVE PORTRAIT, they chose positions in the space to harmonize with the murals, creating a dialogue between body and urban art. The final action, COEXISTENCE FOR YOU, brought the group together in a circle to repeat a symbolic gesture of harmony among people, cultures, and flavors, reminding everyone how observation and participation can transform the city into an ecosystem of shared relationships.

About ROOTED RITUALS

ROOTED RITUALS is a site-specific public art initiative that weaves together participatory performances and food design workshops, fostering meaningful and embodied connections between people and food. The project emerged as one of the winners of the European call Feed Your Future – Engaging Youth for Creative Climate Action, promoted by Rede DLBC Lisboa and coordinated by the Municipality of Milan within the Creative Europe framework. It was realized through the collaboration of JOYY! Food Design, Laboratorio Silenzio, Social Design Lab, and APICAIA – Association for Italy-Asia Cultural and Artistic Exchange. Activities took place in selected neighborhoods of Milan, areas where access to food knowledge and cultural participation is often limited, yet ripe for new narratives and shared spaces.