IDENTITeat Exhibition Explores Food as Ritual and Social Critique in Rome

Curated by Gemma Gulisano, the group exhibition IDENTITeat – Identità commestibili is on view at the Accademia Italiana in Rome from May 22 to June 15, 2026. The show features thirteen artists—including Luca Grimaldi, Flavio Orlando, Carola Spina, Margaux Compte–Mergier, Progetto Fatuo, Claudia Evangelista, Jacopo Natoli, Collettivo GMRGP, Andrea Frosolini, Eliel David Martinez Julian, Cecilia Mentasti, Ginevra Collini, and Gaia Scaramella—who examine food as a symbol of tradition, conviviality, and contemporary alienation. The exhibition is staged in a raw concrete basement, contrasting with the typical white cube, to emphasize the segregation of communal eating in modern life. Works range from Margaux Compte–Mergier's fossilized tableaux in polymer resin featuring a sleeping Bacchus head, to Luca Grimaldi's painterly still lifes of processed supermarket shelves, and Flavio Orlando's hyper-detailed lasagna painting that evokes metaphysical timelessness. Carola Spina's film references anthropophagy as an act of love, while Progetto Fatuo's performance 'ML' (Much Love, Much Laugh) uses decaying food and a Via Crucis-like ritual to confront disgust and bodily decay. Claudia Evangelista's happening 'Bar' invites strangers to share bread and wine. The exhibition draws on Daniel Spoerri's Nouveau Réalisme and critiques consumer society, nostalgia, and the loss of shared meals.