Arts & Design
Forage & Feast at SoShiro:
Edible Experience designed by Heiter X
for London Design Festival 2024
The artist-led events space SoShiro presents ‘Foraged’, an edible table landscape based around the beauty of foraging that explores the synergy of food, design, and sustainability
This September, SoShiro - the gallery and adaptable home for the arts, design and culture - launches a collaboration with London based Estonian design studio, Heiter X, for LDF 2024 in Mayfair Design District.
The ‘Foraged’ exhibition is an immersive experience that invites guests into a world where sustainable design, art, and culinary remembering intersect. The event features interactive installations, meditative spaces, soundscapes, tools, and scents, providing a comprehensive sensory experience, whilst encouraging conversations around conscious consumption, food waste and the relationship between food and the environment.
Presented on a table which wraps around the room, this event is grounded in Heiter X’s Terra Firma concept, which transforms dining into a sensory journey through interactive installations of edible landscapes. The exhibition marks the launch of Protopia Collective - a forward-thinking initiative by Heiter X that features a network of designers, artists, specialists, and visionaries, and a co-lab at the intersection of sustainable design, art, and experimentation. As part of this stage, the new Collective brings together artists, designers, food innovators, and writers to create modular, multifunctional, and collectible pieces that celebrate the essence of foraging.
Heiter X is the creative vision of Helis Heiter, an artist-designer dedicated to reimagining the relationship between food, people, and the environment. Specialising in sustainable design, Heiter X creates immersive experiences that explore the intersection of food, art, design, and sustainability.
This is Heiter X’s most ambitious project to date which introduces the London design world to the beauty of foraging through an immersive display which evolves as nature takes its course. The exhibition is deeply inspired by Helis’ childhood experiences and fond memories of visiting sacred groves, known as hiis, with her grandparents.
Speaking about her love of foraging, Helis says, “These natural sanctuaries, marked by ancient trees, boulders, springs, and burial mounds, were places of reverence and connection with the earth. In these groves, the natural environment itself was considered sacred, fostering a profound sense of respect and harmony with nature. This personal history informs the Foraged experience, which seeks to recreate the sense of wonder and connection I felt during those visits. By integrating elements such as foraged plants, natural materials, and sacred spaces, Foraged aims to reconnect guests with the origins of their food and the environment, promoting sustainability and mindful consumption.”
The table’s surface functions as a living canvas, orchestrating a seamless cycle of growth, consumption, and transformation. 'Terra Firma' melds food production and waste management into its very core, delivering an immersive dining experience. Here, guests are prompted to forage and engage their senses fully as they touch, smell, and savour ingredients with the utmost attention. Dining with hands on this unique, landscape-like surface transforms the act into a sensory experience.
The ‘Foraged’ exhibit will take place from 13th September - 28th September 2024 at the artist-led events space, SoShiro in Marylebone. The gallery, which is also available to book for private parties, has a rich history in London as an alternative events space to the mainstream. A stellar line-up of exhibitions presents a 360-degree cultural hub that not only produces, curates and showcases collections inspired by global cultures but also acts as a creative incubator and events space.
Within the Foraged event, Shiro and Helis will showcase a nested events concept for private parties, demonstrating how the experience can be adapted for potential future private events. By rearranging elements and adding bespoke components, they will highlight the versatility and adaptability of the Foraged theme, providing potential clients with a clear vision of how they can incorporate this unique experience into their own format.
SoShiro is the brainchild of Shiro Muchiri; a Kenyan-born, Italian-trained interior architect, designer, curator and tastemaker. As well as pieces designed by Muchiri herself, SoShiro presents unique collaborations between artists and craftsmen sourced globally, collaborating with specialist artisans and makers. Main exhibits are launched biannually, with additional smaller collections displayed throughout the different gallery spaces.
Foraged is on display from 13 - 28 September at SoShiro London. The exhibition will be available to view digitally at Shoreditch Arts Club, which will be open to the public to view 16 - 27 September 2024. It will be played in the format of a mixed media film combining analogue and digital photography with video and interactive elements, giving it a timeless and textured visual quality,
SOSHIRO GALLERY
23 WELBECK STREET
LONDON
W1G 8DZ
+44 20 7618 9890
OPENING HOURS:
Monday Closed
Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm
Saturday 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm
Booking is essential:
Tickets £18 per person