SPACE June 2026 (No. 703)
Exhibition view of ‘Fungi: Anarchist Designers’ ©Aad Hoogendoorn
Design is understood as an act of organising and planning our world. Yet, are humans considered the only agents of design? The exhibition titled ‘FUNGI: Anarchist Designers’, on view at the Nieuwe Instituut from Nov. 21, 2025, proposes a new perspective on this human-centred discussion of design.
This exhibition, curated by anthropologist Anna Tsing and architect and artist Feifei Zhou (Principal, terriStories), presents fungi in opposition to recent design and manufacture discourse that treats them as a newly emerging material. More specifically, the exhibition highlights how the fungi, ‘anarchist designer’, transform the dynamics of manmade space, manufacturing system, and ecological circulation.
Many of the artworks in this exhibition were created by collaboration between scientists and artists. One example of this collaboration is an installation by ecologists Ivette Perfecto and Zachary Hajian-Forooshani and the artist Filipp Groubnov. Together, they mapped the spread of coffee rust, a fungus that thrives in industrial, monocultural coffee plantations across Latin America. This collaboration demonstrates how fungus can dismantle the standardised and tightly controlled agricultural system designed for maximum yield.
Another example addresses the cycle of radioactivity following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Anthropologist Bettina Stoetzer, artist Berkveldt and artist-researcher Åsa Sonjasdotter demonstrate how fungi absorb radioactive substances from deep in the soil and are then eaten by wild boars. In this work, they traced the circulation of radioactivity by monitoring the boars’ movements. Here, fungi become agents in material circulations that humans cannot fully predict.
In addition to these examples, visitors will encounter fungi-related artworks connected to subjects ranging from sick frogs and kitchen dishwashers, to hospital beds, termite mounds, the human digestive system, banana and conifer plantations, and the jungle. The exhibition runs until Aug. 9.
