A new electronic edition of the ATLAS Bread Museums in Europe, edited by IGCAT Expert Dimitrije Vujadinovic has been published and is available on the Academia.edu website.
“The ATLAS is based on key information collected among 59 museums throughout Europe exhibiting a large scale of items related to bread and baking. The Atlas takes us from museum to museum in a very appropriate way, presenting the history and modernity of the stuff of life,” explains Vujadinovic.
“The mystery and wonder of bread is not of historical value. It is a living human treasure trove of collective memory! And that is why that heritage deserves to be noticed, not only as a museum value or an industrial product, but also as a living human wealth of spirituality, culture and skills, which should be passed on to future generations.
“The poetics of bread is scattered in space and time – in prayers, rituals, songs, literature, painting, music… Dostoevsky wrote: ‘There is nothing in the world as positive as bread!’ The mystery and wonder of the connection between man and bread is a living treasure trove of collective memory and a testimony to the baking skills, ethical and symbolic verticals of people’s lives. That is why the bread culture is a mosaic representation of the past, present and future of man – beliefs, hopes, pain and joy.
“How could it be presented, or what would the landscape of our culture look like without a museum of bread? Of course, each of these extraordinary and unique bread houses does so in its own special way. A number of museums are dedicated to the decades-long family tradition of baking, others talk about the life of a place or region, while some represent the role of bread in the history of civilizations and religions. Bread museums are also an important part of the industrial heritage.”