You probably sprinkled a little salt on your food today without giving it a second thought. At Atlanta’s Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), the humblest ingredient on your table is getting the grand stage it deserves. SALT: A Design Story, on view through January 3, 2027, traces how salt built cities, shaped trade routes, and inspired some of the most breathtaking landscapes on earth.
The exhibition follows salt from the terraced salt ponds of Peru to the ancient mines of Austria, showing how humans have harvested it from the sea and the earth for centuries. Visitors meet nine cities shaped by salt, marvel at Bolivia’s mirrored salt flats and Ethiopia’s mineral pools, and wander through the story of Wieliczka, a 700-year-old Polish salt mine with an underground cathedral carved entirely from salt. There is even a nod to pop culture: the Morton Salt girl, walking in the rain since 1914, and a playful collection of salt and pepper shakers from the Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The most delicious part? A tasting bar featuring salts from around the world, including Atlanta’s own Beautiful Briny Sea. MODA is also hosting staff-led guided tours of the exhibition throughout October. Happy City News loves an exhibition you can taste, and this one proves our world really is built on salt.
Photo: Museum of Design Atlanta
