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Gingerbread modeled after an Orthodox icon.
The icon is a substitute for the relic in the Orthodox Eastern Church, while bread represents the body of Christ in the Western Church and acts as a substitute for relics. My non-religiously motivated invention of an edible icon combines both.
Depicted is Saint Gregoroire of Nicopolis, the ancient city in former Armenia, now the city of Koyulhisar in Turkey. The saint, also called Gregoire Makar or Gregoire d’Armenie in France, arrived on a pilgrimage in Bondaroy near Pithiviers in 992, where he lived as a hermit in a cave and performed miracles there until he died in 999. According to some sources, he baked gingerbread with West Asian spices from his homecountry, rye flour and honey. If this is true, these would have been the first gingerbreads in Europe.
Here I use Gregoire as an ambassador for Int. Bun, my project International Bun, a concept for a global, utopian, post-colonial restaurant chain.
Hand-carved gingerbread
model: Wood, 20x30cm.
Design: Beatrice Schuett Moumdjian. Drawing: Lars Preisser.
Execution in wood: Danuta Sroka.
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Portraits of Eprad, born in Sofia, died near Nuremberg in 1961; Beatrice, 1934-2022, born in Varna, buried in Sofia or Varna; Krikor, 1907-1980, fled Ottoman Empire from genocide, died in Varna; Viktoria, fled Ottoman Empire from genocide with husband; she sees her in-laws beheaded; died in Sofia.
Marie, great-grand aunt, died in a deportation or extermination camp filled with minorities who were herded through the desert every day until all were dead.
Uncle Karen writes, "Marie was very young, she was hungry and dug up a turnip in the ground, a Turkish soldier took it from her hand and beat her to death with it."
Officers of the German Empire, which was an ally of the Ottoman Empire, helped to implement the Armenian Question.
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Family constellation/séance. Portraits of relatives as “Stutenkerle”, a German type of person shaped bread, and ritual breads, decorated with eternity symbols, fertility symbols, sun wheels, immortality knots from Eastern and Western Europe and East and West Asia. Long-stemmed candles from the Orthodox Church, which in Bulgaria incorporates everyday mystical, and Slavic elements.
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Three salt customs from the East: placing salt heaps (“Salzhäufchen setzen”) in the Ore Mountains (custom at New Year - all family members set a salt heap at the turn of the year, which collapses, its owner meets with misfortune); Morijio, salt towers, which people in Japan put on their front door and in front of their store to keep away evil spirits; bread and salt in Bulgaria as a welcome gesture to attract good luck.
16mm filmstill, digitized.
Soer Anne, I believe she is still young, lives with her cat and dog in Bondaroy near Pithiviers next to a neglected church where she exhibits icons of St. Gregoire. She receives visitors and pilgrims, and leads them through the woods to the grotto where Gregoire is said to have worshipped as a hermit over a thousand years ago, and to the small St. Mary chapel that now sits between two private estates.
DEUTSCH
Ich habe eine Lebkuchenform auf der Grundlage einer orthodoxen Heiligenikone entworfen und herstellen lassen, damit Lebkuchen gebacken, und die Resultate fotografiert. sAbgebildet ist der Heilige Gregor von Nicopolis, der antiken Stadt im früheren Armenien, heute die Stadt Koyulhisar in der Türkei. Der Heilige, der in Frankreich auch Gregoire Makar oder Gregoire d’Armenie genannt wird, kam 992 auf einer Pilgerfahrt nach Bondaroy bei Pithiviers, wo er als Einsiedler in einer Höhle lebte und dort Wunder vollbrachte bis er 999 starb. Einigen Quellen zufolge buk er dort aus westasiatischen Gewürzen, Roggenmehl und Honig Lebkuchen. Sollte dies stimmen, wären dies die ersten Lebkuchen Europas gewesen. Hier setze ich Gregoire als Botschafter für mein Projekt International Bun ein, einem Konzept für eine globale, utopische, künstlerische Restaurantkette.
Die Ikone ist in der orthodoxen östlichen Kirche Ersatz für die Reliquie, während Brot in der westlichen Kirche den Leib Christi darstellt und als Reliquienersatz fungiert. Meine nicht-religiös motivierte Erfindung einer essbaren Ikone vereint beides.
Geplant ist eine kurze Dokumentation zu meinen Reisen zu der Pilgerstaette in Pithiviers, und Schwester Anne, die sich um das verfallende Gebaeude kuemmert und Besucher:innen kostenlos herumfuehrt und bewirtet. Dabei wird sie von ihrer Katze und ihrem Hund auf Schritt und Tritt begleitet.
Arbeit gezeigt im Kontext von Diasporaportraits als Gebildbrot / Familienaufstellungen
ENGLISH
I designed and had a gingerbread mold made based on an Orthodox saint icon, baked gingerbread with it, and photographed the results. Depicted is Saint Gregoire of Nicopolis, the ancient city in former Armenia, now the city of Koyulhisar in Turkey. The saint, also called Gregoire Makar or Gregoire d’Armenie in France, arrived on a pilgrimage in Bondaroy near Pithiviers in 992, where he lived as a hermit in a cave and performed miracles there until he died in 999. According to some sources, he baked gingerbread with West Asian spices from his homecountry, rye flour and honey. If this is true, these would have been the first gingerbreads in Europe. Here I appointed Gregoire to ambassador for my project International Bun, a concept for a global, utopian, artistic restaurant chain.
The icon is a substitute for the relic in the Orthodox Eastern Church, while bread represents the body of Christ in the Western Church and acts as a substitute for relics. My non-religiously motivated invention of an edible icon combines both.
I am planning to release a short documentary about my travels to the pilgrimage site in Pithiviers, and Sister Anne, who takes care of the decaying building and shows visitors around for free. She is accompanied every step of the way by her cat and dog.
Work presented in context with as Diasporaportraits as Ritual Bread / Family Constellations
Exhibitions
2022 Kunstsaaten. Museum Brot und Kunst. Ulm, DE