From 15 to 30 October 2024, the MAXXI Corner exhibition area of the National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome will host the multimedia and immersive FE&L -  Food Energy & Life exhibition. At the centre of the exhibition is Eni’s Clean Cooking Programme, an extensive programme which, in some of the African countries where we operate, promotes the replacement of traditional three-stone cooking with a more efficient cooking model. Through the combination of food and design, the exhibition offers visitors an engaging journey through Gabriele Galimberti’s photographs and immersive video projections depicting the first stages of the programme in Mozambique and Angola.

The exhibition at MAXXI is particularly linkedto a project called “Cooking, Energy and Health”, an initiative promoted by Eni to raise awareness in rural African communities on the use of innovative cooking systems, with the aim of improving food security and people’s health and, at the same time, promoting conscious use of energy sources.This has been made possible by improved cooking systems, produced and distributed with the support of the communities where the programme operates in Angola and Mozambique, as well as in Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda, designed not only to respond to functional needs such as reducing the amount of biomass required for cooking, but also to promote ethical values, inclusion, and accessibility, while generally improving health and quality of life. It is one of the cases where design also serves a social purpose through an object which, by offering greater efficiency, reduces energy consumption and enables the most impacted population groups to devote more time to other activities.

The event is officially inaugurated on 16 October, on World Food Day promoted by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to highlight the strategic role of sustainable cooking in the context of the energy transition. This year, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched a campaign called “A World Without Hunger” through the ShareTheMeal app. Thanks to the use of this app, nearly 250 million meals have been distributed so far.

Through the lens of photographer Gabriele Galimberti, the 2021 World Press Photo winner in the Portrait Stories category, the Food Energy & Life exhibition immerses visitors in everyday life in Mozambique and Angola, alternating between scenes of cooking with traditional tools and the most energy-efficient systems. Images include iconic dishes such as ‘matapa’ from Mozambique, a stew made from cassava leaves, and ‘funje’ from Angola, a porridge made from cassava flour that accompanies many local dishes. The exhibition also shows models of the improved cookstoves from our Clean Cooking programme, made by Angolan and Mozambican craftsmen together with the Don Bosco Foundation.

The Food Energy & Life exhibition is the result of a collaboration between Eni and the National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome.  It is part of a joint effort to promote sustainability and urban culture, highlighting the crucial role that energy, design and culinary traditions can play in improving the lives of African communities.