Robert Karimi

Robert Karimi is an interdisciplinary artist influenced by PBS cooking shows, Pablo Neruda’s poetry, and the comedy of Flip Wilson. He is a creative developer, comedic storyteller, poet, performer, and cook. Karimi combines humor and food in his Peoples Cook Project, designed to bring people together through sharing their cultural histories and connecting across the table.

A graduate of UCLA, Karimi has collaborated with Guillermo Gómez Peña, has been featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and has cooked for over 60,000 people in the past 9 years. Karimi has received fellowships and awards from the Illinois Arts Council, the Alliance for Artists Communities Midwestern Voices and Visions, the McColl Center for Art and Innovation, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Karimi serves as Associate Professor in the Film, Dance and Theater department at Arizona State University.

During his Arts/Industry residency, Karimi made a series of footbaths and soup spoon holders. He returned to JMKAC in 2014 and activated then newly created Culinary Art Car through his performance as The Peoples Cook. Karimi led community participants in the creation of entertaining, yet poignant, site-specific performances and sharing of “food stories” as the Art Car traveled around the area and prepared food for special events.