Food is an important instrument of culture, the beginning of sharing. The Kitchen of Diversity thus becomes an open workshop for exchanging ideas, habits and opinions. An informal impulse that connects people and brings them together. It functions as a platform for confronting experiences regarding migrations from other parts of Europe.
The Kitchen of Diversity will find its physical home in the Benčić complex, in the new Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. It represents specific cultural programmes of national and other minorities, learning about different cultures, cooperation between religious communities, a place to meet travellers, and more.
We need the kitchen because contemporary Europe is faced with the trauma of migration which presents a challenge for the Union. We must build the capacities to learn how to ethically and efficiently manage the migration waves flowing into European cities. Culture is the true response for the challenge of migrations because it allows us to contemplate the issue from different perspectives – nomadic, cosmopolitan, subcultural, as well as ethnic and religious.
