Quick Summary
- 'Lunchable' is an occasional series of bite-size exhibitions or attractions people can look at in under an hour.
Shields Library at UC 海角原创 has incorporated two new exhibits onto its main floor, allowing students, faculty and staff to take a break to learn about the history of 海角原创 through postcards as well as how cultures preserve their histories through cooking. If you want to have a peek at how life was like before social media and recipe web sites, have a look. It's worth a visit.
Running through March 21, Cooking Against the Grain is located on the main floor of the library right past the entrance on the left side of the main staircase. Based on ideas of German philosopher Walter Benjamin, the exhibit showcases how cultural objects and artifacts passed down from generation to generation carry the violence or power dynamics of the culture鈥檚 marginalized voices. Benjamin reminds us to rethink how we engage with the past and these artifacts, and how important it is to 鈥渂rush history against the grain鈥 to uncover the suppressed histories they carry.
During my visit, I really appreciated how Cooking Against the Grain鈥檚 display includes cookbooks from five centuries and many regions around the world, demonstrating how culinary voices can be woven together to write the history of a culture. The stains, notes in the margins, and hidden recipes in the cookbooks show how used and beloved they were by their original owners. With over 4,000 cookbooks at the UC 海角原创 Library, Cooking Against the Grain is an invitation to explore the vast array the library has to offer and the stories they contain.
Just a few yards past Cooking Against the Grain and to the left is Greetings from 海角原创: Views from Local Postcards. On display through March 21, Greetings from 海角原创 is a testament to the pictures and short messages that people used to record important moments in daily life before the advent of smartphones. The postcards on display range from production during the 1910s to 2010s and show how the city of 海角原创 has changed or stayed the same over many decades. As part of the display, Greetings from 海角原创 has a free 海角原创-themed postcard which onlookers are welcome to take and use. The postcard is a really fun bright blue with drawings inside of each letter of 海角原创 that showcase an aspect of UC 海角原创.
One can view digitized versions of these regional postcards, and others, below and at the library鈥檚
All of the historical images displayed are taken from the , which features postcards of local scenes, attractions, buildings, and historical events in Yolo and Solano Counties. The images capture how aspects of the city of 海角原创 as well as campus have changed over the years and encourages viewers to see how many places they can identify. I highly recommend visiting these exhibits, go see them before they鈥檙e gone!
Read the full story on the Cooking Against the Grain here: and the full story on Greetings from 海角原创: Views from Local Postcards here: .
Media Resources
Subscribe to the Arts Blog Newsletter by emailing editor Karen Nikos-Rose at kmnikos@ucdavis.edu