The making of bread shaped like Paleolithic Venus figures was first recorded in a video-performance (11’38”) in a domestic setting during the social isolation period imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, a statistical analysis of trending topics on the Google search engine revealed that bread recipes were among the most searched topics. In September of the same year, the detection of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere was reported, presenting itself as a potential biosignature indicating the existence of organic life on the planet. Paleolithic Bakery is part of the SUNÊV series, which explores the narrative of a fictitious cosmos and the settlement of planet VENUS, whose name derives from the etymology that titles the series. The elastic dough made from a mixture of flour, water, and salt was shaped into breasts and vulvas, and the bread was baked in a home oven. Multiple reproductions of its image were printed on kraft paper bags, typical of Brazilian bakeries.
The book I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem was consumed by fire. The ashes of its pages became an ingredient in the recipe for Tituba Bread. Its intriguing shape, pierced in the middle, draws inspiration from the witch cakes (1692) made by Tituba, a real historical figure, a Black enslaved woman accused of witchcraft in the 17th century. Her cakes were used to reveal supposed witches.
“The dead only die if they also die in our hearts. They live if we worship them, honor their memories, place on their graves the same foods they preferred when alive, and at regular intervals retreat to commune in their memory. They are here, all around us, eager for attention, eager for affection.“
(CONDE, Maryse. I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem, p. 27)
