I ♡ DHAASU

A neon lion, 

shining in my night, 

a roar of light.

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are." -

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. [1]

The name Dhaasu contains a history of cultural encounter: a mixture of “dhasu” in Hindi, which expresses surprise, and “asu”, a similar Peruvian expression. [2] This restaurant, specialized in street food from New Delhi, was born from the vision of Camila Abufom and Rishabh Chadha, who noticed the lack of authentic Indian food in Lima. Its flavors not only offer a gastronomic experience, but also an immersive cultural journey.

This space, loaded with cultural meanings, becomes a field of exploration for Andrea Sifuentes Hernandez. The restaurant's Instagram feed is a mirror where the artist reflects on her daily life and the relationship between consumption, memory and the construction of the self. What began as a recurring place in her routine while living and working in Barranco, transcends its role as a favorite restaurant to become an extension of the self-portrait, where flavors, places and images enter into dialogue with her identity and discourse. Thus, the act of consuming is intertwined with the creation of memories and personal narratives.

This project is part of a long history of exchanges between the territories that we know today as India and Peru. On the trade routes in colonial times, spices and textiles wove the first links between the ports of Calcutta and Callao via Manila. [3] Over time, these relationships expanded in the Republican era, crystallizing in the twentieth century in popular culture through Bollywood and, more recently, in gastronomy. [4] Dhaasu encapsulates this dialogue and brings it to the present, offering a space where flavors and cultures converge in a contemporary narrative.

The artist transforms moments of encounter into tangible objects that connect the digital and the analog. This gesture invites us to rethink the value and transience of online images where Dhaasu becomes a microcosm of cultural exchange. What happens when these ephemeral interactions are transferred to physical format? How do images contribute to the construction of our personal and cultural narratives? How are individual and collective memories intertwined?

In this proposal, Sifuentes Hernandez intervenes on the walls of the restaurant with 17 acrylic paintings on canvas. Just as identity is a social construction, the artist acts as a filter of reality, using painting as a tool to explore Dhaasu's digital archive from her subjectivity. These works become windows into the construction of her self, where vibrant colors evoke the aesthetics of contemporary popular culture. In this way, it invites the viewer to reflect on how consumption influences memory and desire, intertwining the personal and the collective.

Mari Santa Cruz

Lima, 2024.

[1] - Brillat-Savarin, J.-A. (2012). Fisiología del gusto (obra original publicada en 1825). Ediciones Trea.

[2] - Denegri Davies, P. (2024, septiembre 9). ¿La mejor comida india de Lima? Así es la propuesta de Dhaasu en su nuevo local en la Av. La Mar. El Comercio. https://elcomercio.pe/provecho/restaurantes/la-experiencia-dhaasu-las-delicias-de-la-india-que-ahora-se-pueden-disfrutar-en-la-av-la-mar-restaurante-comida-india-platos-carta-local-noticia/

[3] - Taboada, H. (2024). El descubrimiento criollo de India (1770-1830). En Ó. Figueroa & L. Rodríguez de la Vega (Eds.), India en Hispanoamérica: Historia y variaciones de un imaginario cultural (pp. 21-51). Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

[4] -  Geyer, M. L. (2012). Bollywood en Perú. Culturas populares y globalización de las emociones. Nueva Sociedad, 241, 133-148. https://biblat.unam.mx/es/revista/nueva-sociedad/articulo/bollywood-en-peru-culturas-populares-y-globalizacion-de-las-emociones