our collective fabric
// the microbiome
(2019 - ongoing) 15mm bacterial dishes, agar, cotton swabs, paper with instructions, and curious people
our collective fabric // the microbiome (OCF) is a collaboration between biologist Sara Fresard, medical student Sophio Kirimlishvili, biologist Jessica Das, researcher Nyhal Metidji, artist Floor Grootenhuis and the public.
The piece is an invitation to grow and experience our own microbiome and share understanding of its importance for our physical, mental and collective health. This creative process delves into how we as community and society are interconnected and interdependent through the invisible fabric of our microbes.
culturing // our collective fabric
A collective fabric of microbes grown, on 3x3 foot agar plates, over a two week period during the Civic Art Lab in 2019.
Growing your microbiome at home
A gallery visitor explores their microbes from their take home kit after two weeks of growth at the Civic Art Lab exhibition in 2019
Since 2019, OCF evolved and adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic, we created take-home kits and collected people’s intimate experiences of lockdown. In this time the Collective grew from two to five people and we
The way we work together is as important as the art we create. OCF has created agreements of care for each other to support our art. Using flexible hierarchies of knowledge we are able to break the boundaries of status and instead focus on connecting, listening, and learning together.
If you are interested in engaging with our collective fabric // the microbiome or would like more information
please contact us at ourcollectivefabric@gmail.com