Strange new materials came to life in our hands today — from seaweed bioplastics to waterproofed biofilms.
At Maunga Kura Toi, NorthTec, we held the second workshop in our Growing Material Cultures partnership with AUT’s School of Future Environment’s BioFabrication Studio, AwhiWorld and our Strange Intelligences Lab research programme.
Professor Frances Joseph led the session, which introduced hands-on approaches to working with bio-based materials:
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Natalia Fuentes guided participants through making bioplastics, a fast, flexible material created from natural ingredients including seaweed.
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Claudine Naselu demonstrated surfacing and waterproofing techniques, showing how everyday organic resources can extend the potential of biomaterials such as bacterial cellulose and mycelium.
Alongside these practical explorations, participants shared works-in-progress, troubleshot challenges, and began shaping the direction for November’s next gathering.
Growing Material Cultures Updates and Events
Knowledge Sharing – AUT University
Our second knowledge sharing session for our Growing Material Cultures project took place on the 29th November in the School of Future Environments at AUT University. Professor Frances Joseph brought together several…
Knowledge Sharing – Geoff Wilson Gallery
Sharing knowledge from experiments and kitchen based research was at the core of our session at Geoff Wilson Gallery on November 1st. Participants informally shared what they had been learning, their highs…
Workshop One: Growing Material Cultures
Workshop One in our Growing Material Cultures project was delivered at Maunga Kura Toi's studio in Raumanga and delivered by Professor Frances Joseph and Caudine Naselu. It covered how to grow Bacterial…
Fungi Hunting
Fungi Hunting - a super fun research expedition for the Growing Material Cultures project and part of the bigger AwhiWorld Strange Intellgences Lab project. Local expert and recent AwhiWorld interviewee, Caley McGillvery…
First Experiments
Some mad experiments took place in the AwhiWorld house as part of Frances Joseph's consultation for her and Claudine Naselu's research for Growing Material Cultures. Together with AwhiWorld, she spent a weekend…
Strange Intelligences Lab Final Open Studio
Strange bacterial and mycelial fibres entangled themselves in our pop up lab for Art Beat 2025. Part of our Growing Material Cultures project and supported via our Digital Impact Programme with Creative…
Growing Material Cultures is an AUT Biofabrication Studio (School of Future Environments) research initiative delivered in partnership with AwhiWorld and funded by AUT’s Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies Contestable Fund.
For AwhiWorld it falls within our larger Strange Intelligences Lab
