S&T RESIDENCY: Krzysztof Gutfranski, Sarvenaz Mostofey, Guilherme Lessa, and Daniella Domingues, “Pineapple in a Jar”, 27 August 2021, 7:30 PM

There are forms of fermentation that would be unthinkable in certain parts of the world. Residents of Slavs and Tatars, sound artist Sarvenaz Mostofey, together with researcher and curator Krzysztof Gutfranski, join forces with Brazilian writer Guilherme Lessa to create an immersive evening focused on lacto-fermenting taboos in Brazil, having the pineapple as an allegory of this taboo and of all things exotic, as well as a reference for the tastes and aromas to be experienced during the event.  

The pineapple is called “abacaxi” in Brazilian-Portuguese, an Indigenous name from the Tupi language meaning fruit that smells intense and pleasant. In contemporary parlance, when Brazilians say something is an “abacaxi”, they mean that it is a problem. Furthermore, “peeling a pineapple” means “solving a difficult problem”. During colonization times, pineapples were initially used whole in Europe for display at dinner parties, rather than being eaten, and were used again and again until they began to rot. After its consumption became more popular, it made its way to become the third most economically significant tropical fruit in the world, with main producers located in Costa Rica, Brazil, and the Philippines.

The website of the project is available here.

Krzysztof Gutfrański is a curator, editor, and researcher. His contextual research practice pivots on issues of social engagement, alternative education, the theory of value, and non-functional thinking in an era of systemic and technological transformations.

Sarvenaz Mostofey is an Iranian sound artist based in Berlin. Her projects incorporate space as an active attribute in the process of creating art, exploring interconnections between modes of sonic attention and concepts of space.

Guilherme Lessa is a writer, editor, playwright, screenwriter, and translator from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. His works include plays, films and a television series about youth, sexuality, and social frailty in Brazilian suburbs.

Daniella Domingues is a Brazilian artist and graphic designer working with a wide range of media. She investigates human relations with time and its materiality, often linked to the territory and its flows.