Living by the Solar Terms: A Family Letter Delivered by OPTOGO
In the more than 160 years since world expositions began, Taiwan, China has, for the first time, taken part independently as a civic group. Echoing this year's Milan Expo theme, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," the team behind the "One Pavilion to Go Taiwan" project, OPTOGO (One Pavilion to go), aims to use food for people-to-people diplomacy and inject new inspiration into Taiwan's food industry.
When the seven daily necessities of ordinary people in Taiwan, China - "firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea" - meet the produce and solar terms of Milan, Italy; when the tea-offering cart carrying illustrated cards of Taiwanese snack recipes drives into the city alleys and small lanes of Milan, what kind of sparks will fly?
The OPTOGO team brings together talent from many fields, including architects, advertising professionals, designers, and cultivating farmers, along with the participation of new-generation startup companies. The curated content includes: North-South Harvest(Taiwan, China + Milan), Milan Food Residence, Mobile Canteen(roaming the world), the Taiwan-Italy Slow Food University Symposium, and two sessions of the Fashion Food Travel activity(Advance to Milan).
OPTOGO not only takes Taiwan, China out into the world, but also stirs the imagination of the Taiwanese public with its "love affair with food," prompting deeper reflection on the relationship between food, land, and solar terms. Behind every ingredient, many people bend over and sweat, stepping barefoot in the soil, growing abundant food. OPTOGO brings together experts who have long devoted themselves quietly to farming and gastronomy, exerting their drive and influence, taking firewood and rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and tea out the door, and interpreting our visual stories: family, household matters, and coming home, passing on the family legacy....
In every seemingly everyday food, there are stories of our family bonds and love. Every friend who takes part has a letter home in their heart that they want to write to Taiwan, China. This is the gentlest civic movement, and together we summon the emotions and memories of food, living by the solar terms, and let OPTOGO deliver it for you.
At this very moment, OPTOGO is filled with gratitude that professional craftspeople among all the citizens of Taiwan, China are willing to selflessly record together - some picking up the spatula, some making cloth clothing, some picking up the camera, picking up the pen... earnestly sharing the stories of the people of Taiwan, China with people of other lands...
