Rhizosphere: SPUN EXPEDITION – fungal hotspots of the Carpathians

Rhizosphere: SPUN EXPEDITION – fungal hotspots of the Carpathians
Gallery Curators Lab, 12 Nowowiejskiego Str.
Opening of exhibition: 11.04. 18:00
Duration of exhibition: 11.04 – 15.05.2024

Myconauts: Mikołaj Charchuta, Maksymilian Chmielewski, Joanna Hoffmann, Robert Kalak, Władysław Polcyn, Jadwiga Subczyńska, Maria Subczyńska

Curator: Joanna Hoffmann, assistant: Mateusz Janik

The art & science exhibition presents the results of the Mycorrhizal Riches of the Eastern Carpathians research project as part of the global SPUN Expeditions program. It includes artistic works combined with the popularization of scientific research results regarding biodiversity and the fundamental role of fungal (mycorrhizal) networks in ecosystems.

We are an interdisciplinary team that, as part of the SPUN Expeditions program, conducts research on the role of monumental trees and their mycobiomes in maintaining the natural ecosystems of the Eastern Carpathians Biosphere Reserve, especially in the buffer zone of the Bieszczady National Park. It is an area of ​​exceptional biological, but also cultural and historical importance, located on the border of Poland, Ukraine and Slovakia. Our intention is to visualize the extremely complex and rich fungal networks and to popularize knowledge about their fundamental role in local and global ecosystems, with an emphasis on showing the deep connections between biological, social and cultural processes.

SPUN Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (https://www.spun.earth) is a global scientific and research organization founded to map mycorrhizal fungal communities and promote their protection. Its activities include the international SPUN Expeditions program with the ambitious goal of initiating global actions to protect underground ecosystems, which are largely not included in programs regarding biodiversity and climate change.

Rhizosphere: SPUN EXPEDITION – fungal hotspots of the Carpathians is an important component of the inter-environmental artistic, research and educational project: Rhizosphere: Great Network of Small Worlds led by Prof. Joanna Hoffmann (Department of Transdisciplinary Projects and Research WEAiK, UAP), Prof. Władysław Polcyn (WB UAM) and Prof. Marlena Lembicz (WB, AMU)

Exhibition website: https://artscience-node.com/spun-expedition-exhibition/

Project website: https://artscience-node.com/spun-mycorrhizal-wealth-of-carpathians/