Childhood, dreaming and food are at the root of Fellini’s work. The drawings of the exhibition have returned food to the same extraordinary world. A memorable story by Tonino Guerra, published as the preface in “A tavola con Fellini – Ricette da Oscar della sorella Maddalena” (At table with Fellini – Oscar-worthy recipes by his sister Maddalena) is further proof of this:
I’ve no idea how it happened, but wherever Federico put its fork down by the side of his bowl of spaghetti, a drop of sauce would always splash onto his tie. Eyes popping out of her head, Giulietta would start showing at him. But something worse happened as well. One morning we were about to leave Bar Canova in Piazza del Popolo when a waiter place a basket of bread rolls filled with mozzarella on the counter. “You can’t not eat mortadella, Federico told me. “I’m full”. “Me too…but mortadella is the taste of our childhood”. “By one for us to share then”. And that’s just what he did. When I tried to break the roll in two, a piece of fat flew into the air and fell onto Fellini’s back. We went straight to his house to give the made the jacket, but Giulietta was there. She threw herself on the couch shouting: “You’ve got to be the very first man in the world Who’s managed to get grease on his back!” Federico sat down ruefully next to her and said in a low voice “But there’s always a feeling of satisfaction to be the first do something”.
“Food in Federico Fellini’s drawings” consists of 19 works of art produced by the director at different stages of its career, not all of which were made to explain a scene or a costume to the people he was working with. A significant part of his artwork is drawings from the famous Libro dei sogni, the diary of dreams Fellini has kept for about thirty years, which is at present exhibited in the Rimini City Museum.
The exhibition has been produced thanks to the Culture Department of Emilia-Romagna Region, Cinematheque of the Rimini Town Council and Casa Artusi
Public opening: Thursday, November 18, 5 pm
The evening, in the presence of Simona Caselli, Councilor for Agriculture of Emilia-Romagna Region, also includes a brief presentation on the Italian food scene in Toronto by Rita DeMontis, Lifestyle and Food Editor at the Toronto Sun and on “Food and media: from Warhol to Instagram” by Prof. Paolo Granata, University of Toronto.