How do we taste a memory?
Or map a mood across the tongue?
Perceptions of Gustatory Records was a multisensory workshop that explored food not just as sustenance, but as a medium to perceive, record, and express lived experience. Rooted in emotional mapping and edible prototyping, the experience asked participants to turn personal memories, moods, and moments into taste—creating sensory self-portraits one bite at a time.
The Premise
Co-developed with Wency Mendes during an Open Elective at NID (2021), the workshop invited students to reflect on their emotional ecosystems—tracing how their aspirations, needs, and everyday encounters showed up in their gustatory world. From daily rituals and emotional highs to invisible longings, participants were asked: What would your week taste like?
These reflections were then translated into tangible, edible forms—flavours and textures that embodied the emotional currents of their lives. Using spices, souring agents, sweetness, crunch, aroma, and temperature, they built multisensory prototypes that weren’t just food—but felt experiences.
The Method
Participants mapped five dimensions of self—smell, sound, sight, touch, and taste—each corresponding to a memory or mood. These were then layered into a gustatory self-portrait, blending visual design and culinary intuition. The outcome wasn’t simply a dish, but a performative expression—a record of how it feels to be human.
Why This? Why Now?
In a world increasingly dominated by visual and textual communication, this workshop reclaimed the tongue as a site of memory and meaning. By engaging the body’s full sensory range—especially the often-neglected gustatory sense—participants began to rethink what constitutes knowledge, identity, and presence.
Originally Held As
SENSUS 2020 – a sensual, performative food experience featuring 15 edible self-portraits, later adapted into workshop and course formats.
Facilitated by
Kabyashree Borgohain (Project Otenga)
Wency Mendes
Hosted at
National Institute of Design
(Open Elective)
