Edition Benjamin Li
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Nr. 39 met Rijst ‘Kipblokjes met Pikante Saus’, Benjamin Li
500 pieces, Edition of 100, all copies are unique
In collaboration with MAMA and Museum LAM Lisse.
Price: € 100. Available at the beginning of March.
Reserve your copy by sending an email to: nathalie@thisismama.nl
In 2013 Dutch celebrity Gordon made the stereotyping comment “No. 39 with Rice” towards a Chinese participant in the TV program Holland’s Got Talent. This prompted Benjamin Li to embark on a long journey in search of unique dishes, objects, stories and people who contributed to the creation and existence of the Chinese-Indonesian restaurant. Since then Benjamin has respectfully and passionately visited hundreds of this unique restaurant-type, resulting in an ever-growing artistic research and archive of photographed dishes, menus and carrot roses.
In 2016, MAMA invited Benjamin to contribute to her Puzzle Karaoke marathon during I <3 Camp by providing an image for one of the competition puzzles. Benjamin chose this image, which is one of the first photos in his research and was taken in restaurant Happy Corner in Amsterdam.
Fortune can be found in unexpected places. When making the puzzle himself, it turned out, a piece was missing. This white spot was the beginning of The Puzzle Collection; a series of puzzles with images of other iconic dishes, such as Tja Sieuw and Shrimp with Broccoli. Here Benjamin deliberately replaced 33 – his age at the time- pieces with blank puzzle pieces. Also in future puzzles Benjamin intends to replace a number of puzzle pieces equal to his age, an ever growing blank part of the puzzle indicating the passage of time, and possibly the fading of these traditional dishes. What will remain after so many years?
One of the puzzles from The Puzzle Collection was purchased by LAM museum in Lisse, the food art museum, that nominated Benjamin for the Volkskrant Visual Art Prize in 2018.
Now, together with MAMA and LAM, Benjamin Li is releasing a revised edition of the original puzzle that led him on a special path in his artistic practice. All copies have a unique detail and are accompanied by a mini-publication, a manual derived from a conversation between Benjamin Li and Marijke Phoa (www.allesiscultuur. nl), with contributions by Sietske van Zanten (director LAM museum) and Nathalie Hartjes (director MAMA).
The dish ‘Kipblokjes met Pikante Saus’ is still on the menu of restaurant Happy Corner. Benjamin highly recommends it! Happy Corner, Plantage Middenlaan 30, 1018 DG Amsterdam.
For now – We wish you lots of fun piecing this together!
Benjamin Li
Different forms of identity, cultural heritage, integration and belonging are important themes in Benjamin Li’s work. He draws inspiration from daily life, social media and personal events. Li’s work functions as a mirror and makes use of stereotypes and existing misunderstandings.
www.benjaminli.nl
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LAM
LAM is thé food art museum of the world. Brand new and full of international masterpieces. Above all, the LAM is an innovative museum encouraging its visitors to look differently at the world. With our super personal approach you always get a tailor-made art experience. You can find museum LAM museum on the historic Keukenhof estate in Lisse.
www.lamlisse.nl
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