HKU University of the Arts Utrecht

Projects 2023

The Oyster Spot

Finalist Project

Anna Vroegindeweij

The project proposes reseeding the North Sea with oysters by installing sustainable oyster habitats made from shells and fashioned into spiky structures inspired by glass sea sponges. The structures both protect juvenile oysters from predators and circulate water throughout. Early materials prototypes have been tested underwater.

Lost in Translation

Juna Miedema

Lost in Translation is an art installation featuring a series of nature translations aimed towards inspiring the same impact of nature on the human body and brain through ceramic pieces that mimic natural surroundings.

In Relation

Eva Budniewski, Aska Hayakawa, Iver Kim

In Relation is an interactive performative installation in which people are made aware and set in relation(ship) to the organism and symbiosis of corals. It is an immersive experience aimed to develop empathy and attention towards rethinking nature-human-society relationships.

Fungi as Founders of Our Landscape

Claire Van Limburg Stirum

Fungi as Founders of Our Landscape combines mycoremediation with waste mountains found in the Netherlands to provoke thought around soil remediation techniques (isolating and controlling). By implementing mycoremediation into a waste mountain, the site can become an area of recognition and respect towards the fungi working underground.

Dear SCOBY, Answer Me!

Britt Vendel

The art installation is a search for communication with the kombucha SCOBY and a calling for help to micro organisms that are full of evolutionary knowledge and essential for our survival. Embroidery is used as an expression of concern and an attempt to get answers from the microbes. Could these microbes advise on problems humans have created in the world?

FFF – Fungal Fermentation Factory

Hazal Ates

FFF is a grow-it-yourself fermentation machine that uses mycelium with modular, updatable electronic components for a sustainable kitchen appliance.

Shirley Niemans works at the Centre for Creative Technology at HKU and is part of the Art, Technology, and Ecology project group. She developed and ran Lab Pastoe, a new experimental space for materials research and crossovers between techniques, and currently works on the redevelopment of the HKU Biolab. She holds a BA in interactive art and music (KABK and KC, The Hague), and an MA in New Media and Digital Culture. She recently graduated from the BioHack Academy at Waag Amsterdam and is exited to be part of the developments around bioArt, biodesign and circular making.