ROOTED RITUALS was inaugurated during Milano Green Week in the former Crescenzago cemetery, now transformed into a small urban grove at the city’s edge. This event marked the beginning of a collective journey made of glances, gestures, writings, thoughts, and flavors. In this open space, participants from diverse backgrounds came together through hands-on activities and shared moments. Food, the seasons, and simple daily actions became instruments of wonder, inviting reflection on the value of rituals and the care we offer one another.

Performance

The performance WHITE by Laboratorio Silenzio unfolded in fragments: secret gestures, sudden appearances, encounters that became ritual. Bodies and languages intertwined in a silent dance that inhabited and reshaped the space. Ten performers, both deaf and hearing, explored new modes of expression, listening, and connection, creating a poetic dialogue between presence and environment.

Installation

At the conclusion of the performance, the audience was invited to leave a personal memory. All contributions came together to form the Wall of Memories, an open conversation where thoughts, stories, and experiences related to food and community took shape. The installation became a poetic, participatory archive of the neighborhood, capturing the collective imagination and lived experiences of the participants.

Aperitivo

In exchange for their shared memory, each participant received a white box containing six rolls inspired by the theme of the root. Fermented drinks, conversations, laughter, gentle gestures, and small collective rituals animated the space, transforming it into a living fragment of community. The convivial moment intertwined flavors, stories, and presences, creating a simple yet profound shared ritual under the open sky.

Menu

The white box is conceived as a small edible landscape: six rolls that narrate the invisible bond between roots, soil, and plants. They are arranged in three layers of correspondence, exploring the variety of relationships between food and the environment.

Roots and Tubers — flavors that grow directly underground
1 Julienne carrot combined with julienne cucumber and glass noodles
2 Julienne potato combined with julienne green pepper

Gifts of the Soil — mushrooms and ingredients nourished by the ground’s ecosystem
3 Shiitake mushrooms combined with wood ear fungus
4 Enoki mushrooms combined with soybean sprouts

Symbiotic Crops — plants that grow in alliance with microbes and fungi
5 Fermented yellow soybean paste combined with scrambled egg and chives
6 Peanut cream combined with chopped walnuts

Drinks
Jasmine tea
Rice wine
Water

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.