Tokyo Art and Science Residency

November 2024 Japan

During the Research Residency I worked with interspecies communication between humans and indigo bacterias.

The research revolved around the indigo colour tradition in different regions of Japan and how its processes (e.g., foraging, growing, fermenting and dyeing) connect people to their Land. During field work, I was interested in the stories about indigo, how people talk to the vat and finding a way to communicate with it while creating it. These exchanges with the living organisms inside the indigo vat and indigo experts deeply touched upon questions of interspecies communication and belonging to a place through craft, gestures and stories. This research is about attempts to talk to the vat, telling stories of makers working with indigo, their craft and relationship to the Land.

During my time at the Residency, I gave a presentation, workshop, created a fermented indigo sukumo vat that continues to be in conversation and alive with BioClub’s community.



Thank you Bioart Society, BioClub Tokyo and the Finnish institute in Japan for making this research and residency possible.

Journal published on Bioart Society, BioClub website and FabCafe. Documentation of the process of dyeing with the indigo vat and a microscopic image of the bacterias taken by L.K.