Yum Yum: a serving of cultural imperialism

In the years before widespread international travel and global migration, World's Fairs and other exhibitions were a place where one could sample the cuisine of far-flung places. From 1885 to 1887 Knightsbridge, London was home to a "Japanese Village". Among its visitors was W.S. Gilbert, who visited its shops and tearooms while writing the libretto for the Mikado. The drawing above of the character Yum Yum is Gilbert's own. These are some of the denizens of Knightsbridge village:




Now, even small and medium-sized North American and European cities are home to restaurants that serve food that until recently would have seemed unimaginably exotic.

But cultural exchange through food is an unequal phenomenon, one that reflects the global migrations of people, money and ideas. While the global sushi boom may pose a threat to ocean ecology, it is unlikely to be labelled as cultural imperialism. American fast- and convience-foods on the other hand are widely perceived as symbols (and agents) of world domination.

Chinese multidisciplinary artist Zhang Hongtu's Kekou Kele Bottle captures this concern beautifully: