A PROJECT BY PAULINE WIERSEMA

Cake gets in everywhere: there is cake when we are born and there is cake when we die. In between those two inevitable moments, many more cakes take the stage. Ministries, companies, NGO’s and celebrities all serve cake from time to time. So, if cake gets in everywhere, how can it help Pauline to get in everywhere?

Peace of cake researches the historic, cultural and futuristic aspects of cake. By using action research and the typical ‘huh-method’, Pauline has turned cake into a metaphor on the subject of finances. This led to cake fashion, muffins explaining research papers, performances, workshops, a free food tour in Amsterdam and much more. The first ‘Peace of cake’ was made in collaboration with Cakes Land Cairo, Egypt. It celebrated the position of Egyptian women in a post-revolution society. Back in the Netherlands, Pauline started to use the so-called ‘sugar coated power structures’ of the cake as a conversation tool regarding a topic the Dutch aren’t all too comfortable with: money, cash, business! What do you spend and earn on a monthly basis? What can an artist learn from a real estate expert and how do you prepare for a financial crisis? During workshops and pop-up street experiences, she invites people to decorate a cake based on their financial situation, to be shared and eaten by others afterwards. The cake might be devoured, but the new perspectives will stick to them in a way only fondant can.