Conversation with Laila Gohar
Between Food and Fantasy
Text: Gilles Khoury. Photos: Courtesy of Laila Gohar.
Don’t call Laila Gohar a chef. No. Starting from scratch, she invented a whole new profession, a form of art that never existed before, using food as the medium of expression. In her hands, even the most humble and overlooked ingredients are transformed into precious objects. Somewhere between the milieu of art and the world of cooking, her tables and installations seize the attention through a language that is hers and hers alone: sculptural, disconcerting, sometimes even bizarre, with sly gestures that somehow always awakens the child in us. We talk to this remarkable woman.
GILLES What is your first memory related to food or to what you are doing today?
LAILA I don’t know if it’s the earliest, but it’s the most clear. During childhood, we had a cookbook at home by Chef Ramzi, which my mother often used. Chef Ramzi is something of a culinary legend in Lebanon and the Middle East and one of my idols. I often flipped through that book as well as another cookbook that was published by the U.N. and intended for kids. I spent hours poring over these books, looking at all the pictures that used to fascinate me. My father used to cook a lot and would create dishes with odd ingredients or put together meals from the previous day’s leftovers. Making something out of nothing is something that always captivated me and something that I inherited from him.
G How do you define, in your own words, this profession that you have basically invented all by yourself?
L I often say that my job consists of creating experiences out of food. But even though food is my medium, that doesn’t mean that I consider myself a chef, which is what the press and people in general tend to think that I am. My mode of expression,my way of formulating thoughts and ideas, unfold through food. I just have trouble formulating in words what I feel or what I think whenever I have interviews or interactions with the press. My way of explaining what I do is through my work. It speaks for me. My existence occupies this space that I have created in between the practices of art and cooking.
G So what differentiates you from a chef, given that everything you make is edible?
L It’s where and how my things are presented that makes the difference. A chef works in a restaurant, and a restaurant is designed to evoke certain specific feelings – warmth, liveliness, comfort, hospitality. In terms of my own work, however, my installations aren’t meant to conjure those same feelings. They tend to be more disputed and less comfortable, particularly since they tend to be presented in less-warm, less-expected spaces like galleries and museums. When people show up in those types of places, they tend to be a bit disconcerted or insecure. They don’t know quite how to interact with the others. They look for a familiar face. When my work is exhibited in those types of places, it’s an instant ice-breaker because they have a performative dimension that’s theatrical and almost fantastical. People let down their guard and become kids again. They wonder what these things are, what’s happening. Everyone is simultaneously confused and intrigued. My works attempt to…