Josephine Sassu’s Insect Biscuits Invade Cagliari’s Kuko

Josephine Sassu’s site-specific project 'L’esercito di Pastafrolla' (The Shortcrust Army) is on view at Kuko in Cagliari until October 20, 2016. The exhibition is part of the 'Arte in tavola' series curated by Anna Oggiano and Roberta Vanali. Sassu (born 1970) subverts cake design by decorating lemon-flavored biscuits with icing illustrations of cockroaches, beetles, and scarabs, challenging Western taboos against eating insects. The work references the Terracotta Army and includes ceramic tiles and bowls also made of biscuit dough. Curator Roberta Vanali states the biscuits oppose fashionable cake design's prettiness, instead embracing grotesque ambiguity. The biscuits were prepared with help from a woman expert in traditional Sardinian pastry. The exhibition space Kuko is a multifunctional venue dedicated to food and cooking culture.