Fungi Workshop: Spore Basket Braiding

In the Spore Basket Braiding workshop, the Mushroom Club combines craft with storytelling and ecological imagination.

In this workshop, participants will make small ‘spore baskets’ to hold local mushrooms, combining craft with storytelling and ecological imagination. Together, we will explore the more-than-human networks (including fungi) that shape and organise the world through craft, ritual and shared reflection.

Humans share the air they breathe with all kinds of life, including the spores that enable fungi to spread and multiply. Mushrooms remind us that we are not alone in the unpredictable design of the world. Traditionally, the specimens we eat or use in rituals are collected in baskets. In this workshop, participants will weave their own incantations, thoughts and intentions into ‘spore baskets’ for mushrooms.

No prior experience of basket weaving is necessary. Bring your favourite mushroom and we will provide the rest of the materials during the workshop. Afterwards, your basket will become part of a collaborative installation at the Nieuwe Instituut, but you are also welcome to take it home as a souvenir.

Please note that we will be weaving with elephant grass, among other materials, which can cause allergic reactions in some people.

The workshop is led by designer and researcher Rebecca Schedler on behalf of the Mushroom Club. Rebecca is a textile artist and social designer. She previously developed a machine that illustrates the relationship between humans and fungi using edible mushrooms that grow on faeces - a valuable, reciprocal cycle of valuable nutrients.