Thursday, April 12, 2007

IACP Conference Welcoming Event: Culinary SENSE-ations

iacp event

I've spent the past few days preparing for the food photography exhibit for the welcoming event at the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference. The event happened yesterday and was absolutely fabulous. It took place at the Merchandise Mart, and the overarching themes were Chicago and food art. The Mart showrooms that chose to participate each hosted a particular theme. My showroom was Valcucine, and my theme was food photography. I wish I had done more (I still regret not being able to find someone to create that food photography cake) but I think in the end it turned out pretty well. We had 5 large photos by Jeff Kauck hanging from the ceiling, and 5 smaller photographs scattered on easels through the showroom. I also created a number of tiny matted stock photos to hang and scatter throughout the room, just to draw the eye through the exhibit. We also had a Chicago-themed video put together by Eric Futran, which featured a montage of local food photos set to a foodie-based version of Sweet Home Chicago. Valcucine decided to keep the exhibit up for a while as part of their showroom, so you can see it if you happen to be passing through the Mart anytime soon.

I also participated in the Written Word exhibit, headed by Leslie Swibes, which was in the Varenna Poliform showroom. The walls were decorated with food quotes, and themed cocktail napkins covered with quotes related to food and wine accompanied the wine stations and bread table. There was also a huge wok full of fortune cookies with food quotes inside.

This event was the brainchild of Shelley Young, owner of the Chopping Block. Shelley and Linda Avery, Executive Food Editor of Leite's Culinaria oversaw the event and all of the exhibits, and they did an amazing job. I would imagine that this was one of the most creative events that the IACP has ever seen.

The other exhibits are listed below, and you can see photos of the show on Flickr.