In the third instalment of this workshop series, we were able to see how well our bacterial plates and liquid cultures grew over the week. We then harnessed the pigment-producing abilities of this bacterium to colour both un-dyed fabric samples as well as some of the food waste-dyed fabrics from the first session. At the end of the workshop, we prepared some stencils with liquid bacterial culture that we will use for printmaking on Thursday. Vanessa’s PhD thesis work is largely about circular fashion and sustainable textile practices, and she’s often exploring ways of expanding the natural dye palette — in this case, by combining both food waste dyes and bacterial pigments.

Thursday, March 31st is our final session! It’s time to see the culmination of three weeks of dyeing and culturing.

For more information about Vanessa’s research and practice, visit her Instagram page.