'TAPAS. Spanish Design for Food'

This exhibition provides a rich panorama of the most recent Spanish design as applied to cuisine, a creative taster menu of ‘tapas’ from all the fields in which design plays a role in the act of eating.

Curated by Juli Capella and organized by Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), TAPAS showcases imagination and talent targeting the taste buds, where design and haute cuisine go hand in hand. Spanish chefs, including DC’s own chef José Andrés, designers, architects, wineries and restaurants reflect the last 25 years of Spain’s avant-garde experimental blending of design and food.

The exhibition is divided in three sections: the kitchen, about preparation and utensils; the table, for objects used to sample food; and the meal, on food design. Legendary culinary icons from Spain are also featured, including the paella pan, traditional wineskins and flasks, the bota, botijo and porrón. To complement the more than two hundred objects on display, TAPAS includes a large collection of wine bottles which stand out for their bold and appealing labels, and audiovisual presentations featuring a selection of interior design in Spanish restaurants and a selection of wineries from across Spain which stand out for the quality of their architecture, including works by Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Rafael Moneo.

A festival of shapes and materials in the most diverse styles, nourished from a rich store of ingenuity, experimentation and sensuality, TAPAS reflects Spain’s ability to incorporate design and creativity as characteristic values of cuisine and gastronomy.

A series of special events will be organized in conjunction with TAPAS. Spanish Design for Food:

Inaugural Lecture

• On Saturday, January 25 from 1 pm to 2:30 pm, at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain. Free admission. Space is limited, RSVP required.
• Architect and designer Juli Capella, curator of the exhibit, and journalist Linda Hales, former design critic of the Washington Post, will discuss the interaction between design and gastronomy, and how this discipline applies to cuisine across a variety of fields including food design, food preparation, interior design of restaurants and wine labeling among others. 

Conversations in Culture

• On Tuesday, February 11 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, at the Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.A., 2175 K Street NW(22nd St. entrance), Washington, D.C. 20037. RSVP and more information.
• As part of the Conversations in Culture series organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the U.S.A., Douglas Burton, owner of Washington-based design platform Apartment Zero, will discuss the art behind today’s Spanish product designers and how Spanish tabletop design and cuisine have taken the world by storm. The talk will be followed by a live demonstration of contemporary tapas by the Executive Chef Javier Romero, from Taberna del Alabardero.

Guided tours with Douglas Burton

• On Saturday, February 22 at 12 pm, at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain. Free Admission. Space is limited, RSVP required.
• On Saturday, March 15 at 12 pm, at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain. Free Admission. Space is limited, RSVP required.
• Douglas Burton, owner of Washington-based design platform Apartment Zero, will present a panorama of the avant-garde and top notch Spanish design as applied to gastronomy on a guided tour to the exhibit.

Film Series on Spanish Cinema & Food

• On February 6, February 27 and March 13 at 6:30 pm.
• SPAIN arts & culture Cine-club will feature a series of Spanish films in which cuisine plays a central role. Films: Volver by Pedro Almodóvar, Jamón Jamón by Bigas Luna, and Menú Degustación by Roger Gual.