Title:	FOOD DEFINES US: A VISUAL DISCOVERY OF SINGAPORE’S GASTRONOMICAL CULTURE
Author(s):	Kok Cheow Yeoh , Adeline Ong
ISBN:	978-972-8924-84-3
Editors:	Yingcai Xiao, Tomaz Amon and Piet Kommers
Year:	2009
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	Singapore, gastronomy, food, identity, visual, narrative, photography.
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	201
Last Page:	209
Language:	English
Cover:
Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Singapore is a city of many names, one of which is “food paradise.” Yet, there is a lack of research in the field of gastronomy in Singapore. This project seeks to explore the social and cultural implications of food, and investigate the correlation between food and identity in multiracial Singapore. Captured through the lens of a digital SLR, this research is a visual narrative that makes use of visual semiotics to analyze the implicit and explicit meanings of food in photographs. By explicitly documenting activities related to gastronomical events, we hope to deconstruct and contest the realities of signs embedded within. The photos are organized into three broad categories: i) food forms a central tenet of our identity which connects us to our past, present and future. In other words, we use food as a medium to reach out to our ancestors and loved ones as well as the spiritual entities beyond us; ii) food defines the way we live, work and play. As such, food becomes a telling factor in explaining who we are and our place in the world by investigating the setting in which we consume food. Finally, iii) food gives us energy, order and life as such that the realizations of our material environment are governed by how things are designed, manufactured, distributed and used.
	Go Back