An ongoing exploration of the intersection of food and art-making took place over spring break in Belgrade, inspired in part by the Serbo-American Cookbook collaboration between Columbia College InterArts graduate students and those at the University of Belgrade. Friday, March 29, was a day both inventive and delicious, as Associate Professor Melissa Potter collaborated with University of Belgrade Fine Arts Professor Adam Pantic to present Pulp and Pastry. This innovative papermaking project explored interactivity and social practice-based art in the same papermaking studio Professor Potter created during her 2006 Fulbright residency. Professor Pantic was one of the original team members who built the studio, which is still in use today.

As part of the collaboration, Pantic cooked flatbreads and cakes made from pulped vegetables, while Potter made paper from leeks with students. Pantic, whose culinary nom de guerre is “Djulistan, Ph.D. in Oriental Sweets,” uses the diverse characteristics of food and paper as art media, to play on the collection of old recipes from his time in military service in Bosnia. His work often features food as a creative artistic exercise.

Potter began the workshop by sharing new work by InterArts Book and Paper MFAs and alumni
Alex Borgen, Maggie Puckett, Jillian Bruschera, Haley Nagy, Don Widmer, Trisha Martin, and Amy Rabas. Pantic and Potter hope to continue this collaboration in the future, and are setting their sights on a virtual collaborative papermaker’s garden.

More on the Serbo-American collaboration can be found on the shared Facebook page.