A collection of edible soils from around the world inviting you to verify your preconceptions about what can be eaten.
At the exhibition, you can taste six samples of edible soil from different parts of the world, which are displayed on a pedestal.
The Museum of Edible Earth brings together a collection of edible soils from across the globe. The museum invites the audience to review their knowledge about food and cultural traditions using creative thinking. It addresses the following questions: What stands behind the earth-eating tradition? Where does the edible earth come from? What are the possible benefits and dangers of eating earth? How do the material properties of earth affect its flavor? Its goal is to constitute an extensive collection of soils suggested for oral use from most countries possible and, through their different cultural uses and histories, with the help of cross-disciplinary partnerships, workshops, and collaborations, redesigning and reconsidering the earth.
With the view of understanding the reality of contemporary geophagia more and constituting the collection of The Museum of Edible Earth, the Masharu studio has been building up an extensive database of edible soils for oral use available on the market. More than 400 different types of soil from 34 different countries have been purchased through the internet and in cultural shops and collected during field trips to form the Museum of Edible Earth. The collection contains earth samples from many countries, such as Belarus, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Slovenia, Suriname, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan and more.
dr. masharu (they/them) lives and works in Amsterdam. masharu is an earth eater, an earth lover, and a founder of the Museum of Edible Earth. masharu’s projects combine scientific research with a personal approach and cultural practices. In 2011, they obtained a PhD in Mathematics and graduated with honors from the Photo Academy Amsterdam. From 2013 to 2014, they participated in the art-in-residency program at Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunst in Amsterdam. In 2018 masharu was an artist fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW).
masharu’s artistic as well as scientific work has been exhibited, screened and published in more than 30 countries in such venues and events as Word Soil Museum in Wageningen, Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Modern Art Museum in Yerevan, African Artists’ Foundation in Lagos, Spanish Cultural Centre in Guatemala City, World Design Event in Eindhoven, ReadyTex Gallery in Paramaribo, 4th Jakarta Contemporary Ceramics Biennale in Jakarta, European Ceramic Workcentre in Oisterwijk, Sustainica in Dusseldorf and Museo Maritimo in Bilbao. masharu received several awards, such as the Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica (Austria) and the YouFab Global Creative Awards (Japan). masharu’s work is supported by the Mondriaan Fund.
Made possible by support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
