Press release
04.04.2023

1/4Embassy of Switzerland in JapanMICUL MICUL ×Vitality.Swiss

Recipes wanted ! Let’s explore thepotential of algae & seaweed andcreate new recipes together !
The Embassy of Switzerland in Japan and Vitality.Swiss
ambassador Maya Minder have launched a collaborative
project “MICUL MICUL Vitality.Swiss” and are on thelookout for recipes using algae or seaweed. These new
MICUL MICUL Vitality.Swiss recipes will be presented atworkshops in Osaka and Tokyo this April.

MICUL MICUL © Maya Minder

Maya Minder, one of the ambassadors of the Vitality.Swiss program, is anartist, curator and chef working in the field of Eat Art. The Embassy ofSwitzerland in Japan together with Maya Minder are launching MICUL MICUL
Vitality.Swiss, a project focusing on algae. Algae produces around 70
percent of the world’s oxygen and is said to be a possible key to solving certain
aspects of the energy and climate crisis. Seaweed is a familiar part of theJapanese diet, but when you look at the tables around the world, there seems
to be much potential for broader consumption.
MICUL MICUL Vitality.Swiss relies on your participation!
1. Learn: Watch on-demand videos of interviews with researchers.
2. Share: Tell us your seaweed recipes.
3. Create: Craft new recipes. Join the workshops in Osaka and Tokyo.
4. Develop: Take on the challenge of new recipes. You can also add your own
twist.
All information is available on the homepage of Vitality.Swiss:
https://vitality.swiss.

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Embassy of Switzerland in Japan

1. Learn: Watch on-demand videos of interviews withresearchers
For this MICUL MICUL project, video interviews with researchers have been
curated and made available on demand. You can learn about the various
potential prospects of seaweed from a research perspective on the MICUL
MICUL Vitality.Swiss website.
Interviews:
Dr. Dominik Refardt (Zurich University of Applied Sciences/ZHAW)
Mr. Edouard Bal (ethnobotanist)
Dr. Philippe Potin (Roscoff Marine Station)
Dr. Myra Chavez-Rosas (Anatomy Research Center, University of Bern)

2. Share: Tell us your seaweed recipes – Open call!
Help us create new recipes for seaweed as future food. We are launching an
open call for donation of traditional Japanese recipes, or fusion food recipes.
Which recipes could match the western tongue? What is your favorite way to
eat nori? What is your favorite, or family recipe? How do you implement
seaweed in home cooking?
Share your recipe here.

© Maya Minder

3. Creation: Join the workshops (Osaka and Tokyo) and tryout new recipes
Using some recipes from the open call as inspiration, let us create new MICUL
MICUL
Vitality.Swiss recipes during workshops in Osaka and Tokyo.
Brainstorm with Maya Minder and the other participants and come up withnew delicious ways of enjoying algae and seaweed.

Let’s open the door to MICUL MICUL Vitality.Swiss together!
Enter MICUL MICUL Vitality.SwissPress release
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Embassy of Switzerland in Japan

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On MICUL MICUL, a note by Maya Minder
Seaweed growing in the ocean is not a plant, but a protist. Besides animal,plant, fungi, bacteria, protist is the fifth kingdom of taxonomic classification.
Algae are responsible for nearly 70% of oxygen production and, given thecurrent energy crisis, they bear a great potential to tackle climate change
through biofuel, food supply, medical and cosmetic applications or even newmaterial research such as bioplastics.
In Japanese cooking, seaweed is well recognized as a food condiment andsince ancient times has been part of the food culture. Even scientists haveobserved that eating seaweed over many centuries has produced a lateralgene transfer within the Japanese microbiome. Nori, Kombu, Wakame andmany more variations of seaweed are slowly entering Western diet and foodculture.
Here we ask you to help us create new recipes for seaweed as future food.
Which recipes could matches the western tongue? What is the way you like to
eat nori the most? What is your favourite, or a favourite family recipe? Howwould you implement seaweed in home cooking?

© Photo by Stefan Wiesner

Maya Minder Artist, Curator, Chef
Following the Biohacker, Maker and Thirdspace movements, Maya Minderuses grassroots ideas, safe zones and citizen science to enable collective
storytelling through food and cooking. After studying Art History at theUniversity of Zurich and Fine Arts at Zurich University of Arts, she has been
co-curating and organizing projects independently or within the International
Hackteria Society. Within her Green Open Food Evolution project she creates
entanglements between human commodities and animism of nature.
“Cooking transforms us” is a framework Minder weaves like a string throughher work. For her, cooking serves to reveal the metaphor of the humantransformation of raw nature into cooked culture, fostering evolutionary ideasof a symbiotic co-existence between plants, animals and humans.

Workshops
Osaka - MICUL MICUL×Vitality.Swiss in Osaka
Registration required
Date: April 24, 2023 (Monday) Time: 14:00-17:00
Place: OSAKA FOOD LAB https://goo.gl/maps/qZKGMcVqjyk
Free of charge (25 seats)
More information: click here
To register: click here

Tokyo - MICUL MICUL×Vitality.Swiss with UoC
Registration required
Date: April 27, 2023 (Thursday) Time: 14:00-17:00
Place: UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY https://uoc.world/access/Free of charge (16 seats)
More information: click here
https://uoc.world/
To register: click here
Co-organized by UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY

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Organization
MICUL MICUL is part of Maya Minder’s artistic research project GREEN
OPEN FOOD EVOLUTION in collaboration with Ewen Chardronnet, andencompasses Installation, Storytelling, Culinary and Performance practices.
“MICUL MICUL Vitality.Swiss — Recipes wanted!” was commissioned byVitality.Swiss, an initiative of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan, andproduced with the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.
Credits
Artist: Maya Minder
Sound: Patric Catani
Story and concept: Maya Minder
Video: Sandra Bühler, Ewen Chardronnet, Tokio Murai, Maya Minder
Texts: Ewen Chardronnet, Maya Minder
Hyperfiction concept tool build on Twinery.org
Graphic design: Anika Rosen, anikarosen.ch
Page Programmer: Ken Gubler, muzosa.chTranslations: Ayuko Nishida, Kyoka, Embassy of Switzerland in Japan(Sachiko Nagai, Ayako Hirose, Sarah Bokman, Yuko Takahashi)Interviews with: Edouard Bal, Dr. Myra Chavez Rosas, Dr. Philippe Potin, Dr.
Dominik Refardt
Supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Initiated by and in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan
Acknowledgment
Jonas Pulver, Constance Juliette Meffre D.D.A. Contemporary Art, Ewen
Chardronnet, Yuko Takahashi, Lisa Jancovics, Cherise Fong, Kyoka, ChristophStahl, Chloé Desmoineaux, Kyong-Hwa Minder-Yu, Huhtamaki Wab, Elisa
Chaveneau, Xavier Bailly, Gaëlle Correc, Station Biologique de Roscoff,
Roscosmoe, CNC, ART2M, Georg Tremmel, Bioclub Tokyo, Hideo Iwasaki,Metaphorest, Sachiko Hirosue, Marc Dusseiller, Urs Gaudenz, Hackteria.org,
Consulate of Switzerland in Osaka/Swissnex in Japan, Office for Typography,
UNIVERSITY of CREATIVITY, OSAKA FOOD LAB

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Contact
Communications & Culture section
Embassy of Switzerland in Japan
tokyo.culture@eda.admin.ch

About Vitality.SwissOn the road to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, the Vitality.Swiss program exploressolutions and scenarios for a vitalized future along three themes: Healthy Life,Sustainable Planet and Human-centered Innovation. Through a variety ofevents and content, the program provides a platform for dialogue and cocreation on the road to the Swiss pavilion at Expo 2025. An initiative of theEmbassy of Switzerland in Japan together with the Consulate of Switzerland
in Osaka / Swissnex in Japan, the Science and Technology Office Tokyo, theSwiss Business Hub Japan, Switzerland Tourism Japan, and Presence
Switzerland, Vitality.Swiss is officially registered as a Team Expo co-creation
partner.