La Cápsula participates in the International Gastronomy Festival of Bahía Inglesa

At the end of February in the beach neighborhood of  Bahía Inglesa, Atacama Region, the XI International Gastronomy Festival Bahía Inglesa: Pacific Cuisines 2025 (FIGBI) took place, where our foundation was present with an extension of the exhibition They Will Survive the Swells, Centuries, and Dreams: Sensory Approaches to Seaweeds; a seaweed pressing  workshop led by Javiera Gutiérrez from ADLA; a dialogue on biocultural practices with Noemí Solar; and the screening of a mini-documentary telling the story of María Eliana Ramírez, biologist who has led the taxonomic, collecting, and conservation  efforts of the  National Algae Archive of Santiago at the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN). 

These experiences, framed within LaCápsula’s travelling program—an exhibition device by FMA that seeks to create opportunities for scientific dissemination through sensory and artistic proposals—were part of the Art and Gastronomy cycle of the festival, which this year brought together the participation of actors from  Japan, Thailand, Peru, and Ecuador. The event aimed to celebrate the culinary richness of the sea in various formats, media, and disciplines.

Adolfo Torres, director of FIGBI, explained that the festival has focused on working alongside diverse communities since its origins 11 years ago: “It’s a self-made event, and we are very pleased to have been able to include the experiences offered by the foundation. The Art and Gastronomy cycle embedded in the festival has aimed to bring together food with other senses through art, so FMA’s sensory proposal, realized in relation to seaweeds, contributed amazing learning and experimentation activities.”.

Our participation began with the opening of an extension of the exhibition  at the Hotel Coral on February 11, one week before the official opening  of FIGBI, and focused on the human-seaweed interaction, as well as presenting the  digitizing process of 100 samples from the MNHN archive in collaboration with ADLA, and distribution of a fanzine titled Biocultural Notes on Seaweeds. .

In this regard, Maya Errázuriz, FMA’s art  director and co-curator of the exhibition, stated that this traveling exhibition  has taken a “multidimensional approach to the role of these species, highlighting both the socioecological impact of seaweeds in our  food traditions,  testimonies of coastal communities, and artistic approaches from childhood memories  while emphasizing scientific and cultural interrelations.”

Errázuriz (FMA) also participated, alongside exhibition co-curator and ADLA director Javiera Gutiérrez, in a dialogue on this topic with marine biologist  Noemí Solar. Furthermore, a workshop was held that invited participants to create their own seaweed collection on Las Machas beach in Bahía Inglesa, led by Gutiérrez, who appreciated the public’s interest in the topic and the opportunity to conduct a field session with local seaweeds.

On a large cloth –made by Sandra Marín of Estudio Repisa, featuring the verse by chilean poet Raúl Zurita that inspires the exhibition’s name– we gathered on the beach with more than 30 people of various ages who participated in the workshop, where they created an seaweed pressings  using seaweeds previously collected from the shoreline to explore the importance of their conservation while also discovering their creative potential:”It’s interesting to see how each territory  has  its unique perspective both in arts and sciences. We want to continue contributing to making these species visible in their aesthetic, informational, objectual, anthropological, biocultural, and scientific dimensions,” said Gutiérrez.

Regarding participants’ appreciation of the workshop, one of them expressed that through seaweed pressings  their curiosity was sparked: “I became interested in delving deeper into the topic, because before this workshop, I had very little knowledge. This is new knowledge, especially about pigments, reproduction methods, and different forms of life in oceans,” she said.

A young woman  accompanying  her brother  shared how much they enjoyed the teachings of the workshop, which allowed them to empathically connect “with the seaweeds and the people. A moment was created to engage in a personal creation.” Another participant highlighted how the workshop helped him integrate these species into his “everyday life” through his relationship with the sea, while another described the activity as “playful, connected, and present,” expressing gratitude for having had the opportunity to participate.