Bread + Honey

The latest exhibition in the display cabinets on the ground floor of Hotel Hotel is called Bread + Honey. They are little beauties – the twelve sculptural works are a collaboration between Italian artist Giorgia Mocilnik, natural beekeeper Honeyfingers and the European honeybee (Apis Mellifera).

The works are made from bread and honeycomb. Bees build comb on and make nests in lots of unexpected places: wall cavities in houses; compost bins; service pits in footpaths; and apparently on baguettes, pretzels and dinner rolls. With these twelve objects the artists have gently, but deliberately, tested the adaptability of these animal architects by placing bread in the hives for the bees to attach their comb to.

The works highlight the intelligence of bees as architects; and the connection between bees and the food we eat. Wild and domestic honeybees carry out up to 80% of all pollination worldwide. Greenpeace USA estimates this as being one in every three bites of food we eat.