Fungi fulfil a wide range of human needs. We have eaten mushrooms since ancient times and used penicillin to fight bacteria. In the world of architecture, we celebrate fungi as a trendy material, in the same way that we once embraced concrete and plastic. Now the exhibition FUNGI: Anarchist Designers tells a different story. Fungi can be inspiring master builders—but also formidable demolition workers. In this exhibition, curated by anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing and artist-architect Feifei Zhou, fungi are for once not at the service of humans, but independent beings with their own agenda, one that is intertwined with various forms of capitalist exploitation, but which also brings to life a highly distinctive multi-species world. Tsing and Zhou have brought together works created at the intersection of science, visual art and design. Together, they show how fungi—like the unmanageable designers of the title—can disrupt human “civilization”.

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing is an anthropology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Niels Bohr Professor at Aarhus University in Denmark. She has authored influential books, including In the Realm of the Diamond Queen (Princeton University Press, 1993), Friction (Princeton, 2004), and The Mushroom at the End of the World (Princeton, 2015). Tsing earned a bachelor’s of arts from Yale University and completed a master’s and PhD at Stanford University. A highly regarded scholar, she has written extensively on anthropological topics and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010. In 2013, she was awarded a Niels Bohr Professorship for interdisciplinary contributions across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and the arts. She is developing a transdisciplinary program focused on the Anthropocene and serves as the director of the Aarhus University Research on the Anthropocene project at Aarhus University.

Feifei Zhou is a Chinese-born spatial and visual designer whose work examines the cultural, ecological, and spatial impacts of industrialized environments. She employs narrative-based spatial analysis and collaborates with social and natural scientists to translate empirical observations and research into visual representations that highlight complex more-than-human relationships and raise new questions. Zhou is the coeditor of Feral Atlas: The More-than-Human Anthropocene” (Stanford University Press, 2021) and the coauthor of Field Guide to the Patchy Anthropocene: The New Nature (Stanford, 2024). She teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and has previously taught at Cornell University and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London.

Artist duo Baum & Leahy, consisting of Amanda Baum and Rose Leahy, is an award-winning international studio that explores biophilic, collaboratively driven artistic creation through interactive installation, art direction, scenography, and experience design.

Lee Berger is a veterinary scientist and associate professor interested in wildlife health at the University of Melbourne.

Artist duo Berkveldt is a Rotterdam-based audiovisual art studio founded by Noëlle Ingeveldt and Juriaan van Berkel. Their work is grounded in scientifically-based research and investigates the complex relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Maia Cruz Palileo is a Brooklyn-based, multidisciplinary artist whose work explores themes of migration and the fluid concept of home.

Rob Dunn is a biologist and the senior vice provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs at North Carolina State University.

Artist Oscar Furbacken graduated from the Royal Institute of Arts in Stockholm, where he is based. Furbacken’s work spans various media, including video, painting, sculpture, and photography, and is rooted in observations of natural phenomena in his surroundings.

Matteo Garbelotto is an adjunct professor at the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley.

Artist Kyriaki Goni is an artist whose work examines the political, affective, and environmental aspects of big tech.

Artist Filipp Groubnov is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the connections between ecology and cognitive infrastructures.

Alyssa Paredes is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. As a sociocultural anthropologist, her research focuses on the human, environmental, and metabolic infrastructures of transnational trade.

Ivetto Perfecto is the Bunyan Bryant Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice and an interdisciplinary scholar in agroecology.

Shiho Satsuka is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the politics of knowledge production, nature and science discourses, and the cultural practices of capitalism, with a particular emphasis on Japan in a global context.

Artist Åsa Sonjasdotter is a researcher, writer, and social organizer whose practice explores the relationalities of crops, including their nurturing qualities, the tensions surrounding power and politics, and the narratives they evoke.

Bettina Stoetzer is a cultural anthropologist whose research explores the intersections of ecology, globalization, and social justice in Europe and the United States.

Artist Liu Yi explores human multidimensional perceptions and modes of existence through various mediums, including ink painting, animation, video installations, and painting. Her work investigates the interactions between humans, nature, and society, blending traditional and modern art forms to create a unique visual language.

Nieuwe Instituut, established in 2012, is the Netherlands’ national institution and museum for architecture, design, and digital culture. Nieuwe Instituut focuses on major developments in society, such as the housing shortage, the climate crisis, and the emergence of artificial intelligence. Designers, including architects and digital creatives, make an important contribution to these developments. Nieuwe Instituut shows the work of designers, brings people together, and collects, develops and shares knowledge.