Since its establishment, KRAK Center has been a place of meeting and exchange where food has played an important role, along with numerous other activities. Food is understood as a biological necessity, as an existential protocol that is immanent to all living beings, Moreover, food also imposes itself as a universal language of recognition, exchange and connection. Due to all this, KRAK Center launched a curated program Cooking and Connecting which aims to define a space for social practice based on the selection of the chef and menu, the selection of ingredients, cooking and finally tasting.

Starting with the Pakistani-Afghan menu prepared by Faisal Khan, Fawal Khan, Nisar Khan and Ajmal Arain in September 2021 as part of the opening of Aida Šehović's exhibition Returning Home, by late 2023 ten cooking sessions were organized with partners from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Iran, Italy, Cuba, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Portugal, Syria, Serbia and Turkey. The most diverse traditions of food preparation were presented and divergent culinary positions, diet and food customs of the new era were affirmed. Within the Cooking and Connecting program, food is understood as a means of individual and collective expression; space of mutual exchange; a process that lifts the spirit; a bonding idea.

On several occasions, members of KRAK team also cooked and prepared food, presenting their culinary skills, inviting guests to meet and taste. This practice surprised the expectations of guests, which transformed the “audience” into a “community” – a very important moment for KRAK. This has initiated protocols and starting points for shaping new social values where an individual or a specific group occupies a key place in the environment in which they live and work.

In the upcoming period, KRAK will continue the Cooking and Connecting program and emphasize the richness of diversity and the capital of multicultural presence through the inclusion of many diverse groups. By cooperating with a wide range of individuals and groups, the desire is to create a platform where their voice would be more visible and present.

Since the very beginning, the Cooking and Connecting program was free of charge, intended and available to a large and wide community. The desire and the intention of KRAK and its practitioners is to keep it that way.