Monday, October 29, 2018

Mind the Fungi - Walk and Talk #1

27 October, 2018. The first public event of 'Mind the Fungi', a two-year collaborative project between the Technische Universität Berlin and Art Laboratory Berlin exploring the potential of sustainable biomaterials from fungi. Artist Theresa Schubert led the event offering diverse perspectives on the forest and its cultural meaning including a performance. Then, together with biotechnologists from the Institute for Biotechnology | TU Berlin she guided us through forests of the Briesetal, Brandenburg in search of tree mushrooms and lichens. Then on 29 October Bertram Schmidt and Carsten Pohl of the Dept of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, showed participants how to preserve the samples for further study. Participants inoculated Petri dishes with samples for cultivation.    Samples taken will form part of a two-year research project combining cutting edge biological research, citizen science and artistic research.

Briesetal, Brandenburg

Theresa Schubert addressing participants, Briesetal, Brandenburg





'Zunderschwamm' (Fomes fomentarius)


Collecting samples, Briesetal, Brandenburg

At the laboratory of the TU Berlin Dept of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, near Humboldthain

Carsten Pohl and Bertram Schmidt

Looking at Petri dishes previously inoculated with mycelium

Looking at sample biomaterials from mycelium produced by the company Ecovative

Looking at sample biomaterials from mycelium, produced by the company Ecovative


Organising the samples



Preparing the samples for inoculation onto Petri dishes




Mind the Fungi
is a research project of Art Laboratory Berlin and Prof. Vera Meyer and Prof. Peter Neubauer of the Institute for Biotechnology, Technische Universität Berlin.