Habla el mercado

UMAMI is a collective founded by Eva Mir and Olga Hernández that develops multidisciplinary projects bringing together gastronomy, art and technology. Their creations subvert the art of cooking and transform it into moments of respite and connection, because they believe that “today, eating slowly is a revolutionary idea”.

Their first project, Jalando, was an immersive dining experience for guests who were both diners and explorers of a region’s gastronomic culture. Created during an artist residence programme at the Teatro Calderón in Valladolid, it premiered at the MeetYou Festival. Their second work, La gula, consisted of a sound session in which appetizers are served whilst the sounds of the preparation were recorded live to create a concert of everyday life. It opened at the SURGE Madrid festival, from where it went on to La Mutant (Valencia), Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Isla Fiera Festival (La Palma), amongst others.

Habla el mercado is their third work: an musical and gastronomic journey through which, via headphones, the audience will discover the oral history of the market’s traders, customers and local residents. It is an exercise in collective memory, brimming with stories and knowledge, led by two actresses and featuring a soundscape specific to the venue, which combines food tastings with personal accounts and fictional narratives. The play is built around the tension between the present and the past, between the defence of small businesses and the emergence of a new model for the food and tourism sectors. It makes us question our own consumption habits and how we currently interact within these markets, which were once the social and emotional hubs of the city.