OUT NOW 
Foam Magazine #63: 
FOOD! The Nourishing Issue 

Press release | Amsterdam, January 2023

Food is not only a basic need, it is deeply intertwined with the majority of aspects in our lives as individual and communities. This issue of Foam Magazine is a journey through food and thanks to food, it is a journey in flavours and conversations — ultimately, and as usual for us, an issue that offers food for thought about the ways us humans stand in relation with the world.

Where do we turn to when looking for comfort, energy, healing and community? What is the ultimate need that all humans have in common? For the bigger part of history Mother Earth has been presented as the gift that keeps on giving, catering to all our needs. But as much as we try to preserve the image of nature as our solid provider, it is becoming more and more clear that the unbalanced and exploitative relationship that has been established over the past centuries is changing this narrative. If anything, the past years have demonstrated how easily mother nature can unleash her anger, leaving us exposed, fragile and stranded — but most of all dependent. Dependent on fresh air, clean water, stable temperatures for our crops, healthy immune systems and ultimately, dependent on our universal fuel: food.

The collection of 16 portfolios included in FOOD! The Nourishing Issue are a testament to the variety of visual strategies addressing a few of such matters. As much as food itself is the quintessential nourishment for our bodies and soul, there is something equally nourishing in pictures of food: they can activate our senses, drive our thoughts, ferment and nurture them over time, or simply make us smile - just like the memory of a joyous meal. This does not mean however that food, or images depicting it, are exempted from trigger warnings — quite the contrary. Trauma, conflict, pain and inequalities exist and can be addressed and depicted via the big umbrella of food, and in this issue of Foam Magazine we look at its image to discuss — amongst other topics — the ethics, cultural significance and impact of contemporary food production and consumption through features, essays, and portfolios.  

Feature-wise we are thrilled to present a stellar line-up, including an interview by Siddhartha Mitter with Anna-Alix Koffi on her work and the newly opened art space SOMETHING in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; a thoughtfully put together selection of Algerian photobooks in the bookshelf section by Awel Haouati; an essay on illegal labour in the food industry by Gustavo Duch; an account by Iroquois scholar Atlanta Grant on Indigenous ideas around food waste and recycling — and much, much more. 

Foam Magazine has been awarded several prizes for both its high-grade graphic design and the quality of its content. Most recently, Foam Magazine was awarded Photography Magazine of the Year at the Lucie Awards in 2017 and 2019. 

Foam
Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+ 31 (0)20 5516500
www.foam.org

Carson Cole Arthur, Clara Barbal, Joan Biren, Nao Bustamante, Samuel Bradley, Breadface, Kat Chan, David Chickey, Nhà Sàn Collective, Maisie Cousins, Gustavo Duch, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Laura Feliu, Gem Fletcher, Chandra Frank, Coco Fusco, Audrey Genois, Zahara Goméz Lucini, Rajyashri Goody, Atlanta Grant, Awel Haouati, Yining He, Chieri Higa, Hiên Hoàng, Hua Jin, Patricia Kaersenhout, George H. King, Kim Knoppers, Anna-Alix Koffi, Claudia Kussel, Charmaine Li, Sébastien Lifshitz, Florian Maas, Elisa Medde, Emily Hanako Momohara, Siddhartha Mitter, Paulo Nazareth, Beaumont Newhall, Ana Núñez Rodríguez, Eduardo Jorge de Oliveira, Paola Paleari, Sarah Perks, Valeria Posada-Villada, Peter Puklus, Rahee Punyashloka, Vivien Sansour, Stephanie Sarley, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Henry Rox, Amelie Schüle, Mark Sealy, George Selley, Sunil Shah, Aurélie Joycelyn Tiffy, Henk Wildschut, Guy Woueté, Gary Zhang Zhexi, Lin Zhipeng.