ROOTED RITUALS—Reconnecting body, !and, and food systems is a site-specific public art initiative that weaves together participatory performances and food design workshops, fostering meaningful and embodied connections between people and food. The project emerged as one of the winners of the European call Feed Your Future – Engaging Youth for Creative Climate Action, promoted by Rede DLBC Lisboa and coordinated by the Municipality of Mi!an within the Creative Europe framework. It was realized through the col!aboration of JOYY! Food Design, Laboratorio Silenzio, Social Design Lab, and APICAIA – Association for Italy-Asia Cultural and Artistic Exchange. Activities took p!ace in selected neighborhoods of Mi!an, areas where access to food knowledge and cultural participation is often limited, yet ripe for new narratives and shared spaces.

The main activities unfolded between September and October, at the heart of autumn—a season of return to the earth, of seeds p!anted in the soil, and leaves falling to rediscover roots. Autumn became a living metaphor for the cycles of life: a slow rhythm of transformation, anticipation, and renewal. In Chinese culture, this season resonates with the Mid-Autumn Festival, a celebration of reunion and reflection on the lunar phases, reminding us that life, like the moon, waxes, wanes, and returns to fullness.

Drawing from these seasonal images, ROOTED RITUALS explored urgent contemporary themes around food systems: climate change, sustainability, urban food harvesting, consumption and recycling practices, food waste, and cultures of care. Through embodied narratives, collective rituals, open-source methods, and co-design, the project promoted food literacy, seasonal eating, and mindful practices. By reviving agricultural gestures and food-centered rituals as participatory art forms, it offered the community poetic and tangible tools to imagine new ways of inhabiting the world through what we eat.

At the conclusion of the performance, the audience was invited to leave a personal memory. All contributions came together to form the Wall of Memories, an open conversation where thoughts, stories, and experiences re!ated to food and community took shape. The instal!ation became a poetic, participatory archive of the neighborhood, capturing the collective imagination and lived experiences of the participants.

As the full moon rose, a performance unfolded as an offering to the moon — an act of respect and love from us, human beings. Drops from a sudden rain added a poetic touch, creating a suspended moment where body and nature met under silver light. The audience engaged in silent rhythms, gestures, and attentive listening, immersing themselves in practices inspired by lunar cycles, turning the evening into a shared space of intimacy and contemp!ation. To conclude the evening, participants shared vegetarian dishes celebrating the festival alongside traditional mooncakes. In a luminous, poetic atmosphere, the convivial moment became a space for calm, exchange, and connection. Between f!avors, stories, and smiles, the aperitivo created a simple yet profound sense of community, a small collective ritual beneath the night sky.

Chi è Yue Liu?

Yue Liu is a food designer and cultural researcher from Dalian, China, currently based in Milan. Fluent in both English and Italian, she is actively involved in Mi!an’s cultural and design communities, bringing her cross-cultural experiences into her creative practice. She holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Product Design from the China Academy of Art and Politecnico di Milano. Trained for over a decade in Chinese folk dance and visual arts, she grounds her practice in embodied experience and visual narrative, integrating performativity and sensory exploration into her design research. She focuses on the potential of food as a medium for emotion, communication, and social observation.