The symposium has the potential to contribute to the Triad's recovery, but it can't as long as it's passed from city to city each year without permanent management. Getting local governments to work together is hard; getting artists, creatives and technologists together should be easy. It's time the principals decide what DATS is for. (MORE --->)
DATS 2010: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
CENTER FOR DESIGN INNOVATION / MRCA
• DATS 2010 OFFICIAL SITEA terrific space with excellent views of downtown Winston-Salem, lousy sound, noisy AC, good parking. This is the space’s third makeover so you have to wonder why basics are still a problem. Too bad the cafe wasn't open. The Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts? Okay, but we bet everyone will just call it what it's always been — the Sawtooth Center.
MY DATS 2010 PROGRAM EVENTS
Two visions about DATS. The first, about establishing it as a credible venue for important ideas in the Piedmont. The second, about expanding its audience by choosing themes that reflect larger community interests and explain economic value.
Four teams each consisting of an American chef and refugee cook, working with the locally developed purple sweet potato, created dishes that combined the skills and traditions of two worlds. Through this project we demonstrate that food is a cultural medium that can overcome language and other barriers that have prevented the talents and economic value of refugees from being fully realized.
The project didn't end on presentation day. It was a jump-off point for refugees to socially connect to mainstream Americans. As artists who've studied the refugee community, we see cultural isolation as a barrier equal to if not bigger than language and employment issues. At our blog, we follow the refugees and participants since the public presentation.
We ask a single question and discover the complex relationship this unique refugee group has with food.
Guilford County in North Carolina is the state's number one resettlement county for refugees, but residents don't see local innovations and interests in food, farmers markets, new ethnic restaurants, shops and businesses as a reflection of the region's explosive diversity or a source of economic growth.
TOWARDS DATS 2010
• Why I proposed the food theme
Thank God for youngsters
• Why I proposed the food theme
