Turning Tapas into Art

If you’re the type of diner who looks at an artistically designed plate of food and thinks, “This should be framed, not eaten,” then Spain’s new international traveling exhibit is for you. Tapas: Spanish Design for Food open now in Miami, is an incredible compilation of innovative Spanish contributions to the worlds of design and dining.

Curated by designer and architect Juli Capella and presented by Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), which promotes the country’s culture and heritage throughout the world, the show is a massive tribute to the art of tapas. With more than 200 exhibits, displays, and installations created by prominent Spanish chefs, designers, architects, restaurateurs, and winemakers, the exhibit is a delicious and clever foray that provides insight into some of the most celebrated Spanish minds.

Tapas is divided into three sections: The Kitchen (highlighting preparation, machines and tools); The Table (dishware and utensils); and The Meal (plate design and food creations). As such, it spans the making and service of a meal from beginning to end, as well as “foster[ing] the partnership between chef and designer,” Capella notes.

Capella chose tapas as the theme for several reasons. For one, it’s a traditional, social style of sharing a meal that has been adopted and adapted by chefs, restaurateurs, and designers worldwide. For another, the word tapa actually means lid, derived from tapar, the custom of covering a glass of wine with a slice of bread or meat to keep out insects. Because “culinary creations are matched to their containers, thus going beyond raw ingredients and cooking,” Capella says, the artistic elaboration of the intersection of design and gastronomy seemed not only reasonable but inspired. “In a world without design, we would be sitting naked on the ground. [T]here would be no tables and no chairs,” he adds.

Next, how you can experience the exhibit…

The AC/E chose Miami as the exhibit’s first stop, where it debuted in The Moore Building in the Design District November 9 and will continue until December 15, in order to recognize the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León’s arrival in Florida. The sponsors also wanted the work to coincide with Art Basel week, one of the most important art shows in the world. “This new, international traveling cultural experience aims to share its design for food with the international art and design influencers converging in Miami,” Elvira Marco, AC/E’s CEO, says.

During the length of the exhibit, which encompasses 8,000 feet and takes a couple of hours to properly appreciate, concurrent programming includes a cultural series, presented by AC/E and co-sponsor Centro Cultural Español in Miami (CCE Miami) in the Moore Space. Of most note, perhaps, throughout November and December, James Beard Award-winning chefs José Andrés, Michelle Bernstein, and Maricel Presilla, who all have firsthand experience studying and creating world-renowned tapas, will lecture on their own design adventures in the culinary arts.

Those looking to make an afternoon and evening of it might also choose to finish up at local tapas and Spanish-influenced hotspots including Bulla, Pincho Factory or Bread + Butter in Coral Gables; Lippi or Porcao Farm to Grill in downtown; and The District.