London art fair to feature Fukushima 'radioactive' veggie soup

Two Japanese conceptual artists will be offering soup made from Fukushima "radioactive" vegetables as a part of the performance art piece 'Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent?' at the 12th Frieze Art Fair in London.

Frieze catalogue explained that the gift of food represents the essence of hospitality, sharing and humanity, but the soup United Brothers offer is laced with the (conceptual) possibility that it may be radioactive, the Independent reported.

Frieze director Matthew Slotover said that Ei Arakawa and his brother Tomoo are flying in vegetables, which have been tested and are safe, but there's clearly a psychological barrier.

The main ingredient of the soup, which will be given out for free, is the daikon radish that is grown in Fukushima, near where a devastating earthquake and tsunami damaged the nuclear power plant, resulting in three of the reactors melting down causing nuclear material to seep out.

Slotover, who founded the fair with Amanda Sharp continued that it's one of those projects where people don't know if there is going to be a huge queue or whether no one is going to go near it.

The fair, which involves 160 contemporary art galleries, which concentrates on historical art, will open in Regent's Park on October.