Mmm! by Juergen Teller

What’s food culture in Germany today really like? Is it all just sausages and sauerkraut, or are there other delicious delights to discover? For this exhibition, debuting at Chicago’s Daley Plaza and then traveling across the US as part of the Wunderbar Together Initiative (“Deutschlandjahr USA”), Juergen Teller embarked on a road trip throughout his native Germany and photographed all the regional variations that give this cuisine its diversity and flair. From fast food to fine dining, from restaurant to home kitchen, Teller turns cultural stereotypes on their heads and reveals how German food culture is largely shaped by young chefs reinventing centuries-old traditions. Many of these creative practitioners are from around the globe and bring their own unique ideas to the table.

The exhibition will be presented in a culture tent, developed by exhibition curator Gerhard Steidl and Dennis de Kruijf from Domes Europe. At the end of the nineteenth century in the USA circuses were presented for the first time in tents. This innovation spread quickly throughout Germany and by the beginning of the twentieth century was already enjoying its heyday. The “traveling circus” was thus born, bringing culture and entertainment not only to the cities but deep into the provinces. The culture tent simultaneously embraces old circus traditions and is state-of-the-art. The tent mirrors the form of a Dutch dance palace, and is constructed from aluminum and opaque gray vinyl. The culture tent will later host a range of presentations from the worlds of art, music, literature, photography, science and business.

Join Juergen Teller on this culinary adventure and get your taste buds tingling—mmm!

This project is a part of the “Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19,” a comprehensive and collaborative initiative funded by theGerman Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and with support from the Federation of German Industries (BDI).