Let's Become Fungal!: Mycelium Teachings and the Arts – Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez

Based on Conversations with Indigenous Wisdom Keepers, Artists, Curators, Feminists

Twelve lessons in fungal activism, Indigenous knowledge and collaboration for artists, gardeners, educators and anyone intrigued by the fascinating life and inspiring metaphors of the mycelium and the mushroom

The enormous popular interest in the world of fungi and the mycelium testifies to its tremendous resonance as a metaphor for new ways of thinking, new systems and behaviors. Taking its inspiration from this world, Let’s Become Fungal! looks at a range of Indigenous practices from Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia that are rooted in multispecies collaboration, symbiosis, alliances, non-monetary resource exchange, decentralization, bottom-up methods and mutual dependency—all suggestive of the behavior of the mycelium.

Each of the book’s 12 chapters begins with a question, and offers teachings on collaboration, decoloniality, nonlinearity, toxicity, mobilization, biomimicry, death and being nonbinary, while also examining the world of fungi. Let’s Become Fungal! shows how fungi can inspire artists, collectives, organizations, educators, policymakers, designers, scientists, anthropologists, curators, urbanists, activists, gardeners, community leaders, farmers and others to become more fungal in their ways of working and being.

Designed by Andrea Spikker
With illustrations by Rommy González

Valiz, 2023
Softcover, 336 pages, 50 color and 80 b&w, 6.75 × 9.5 inches
ISBN: 978-9-49-324628-7