Date: Sunday, 18 January 2026
Time: 11:00-15:00
Entrance: Free
Location: Varia (Gouwstraat 3, Rotterdam)
Participation: is limited, to join please send an email to info@varia.zone with [Biocraft January 18] in the subject, sooner than 5 days prior to workshop.

Feel empowered (but not obliged) to bring along: (your) household organic waste.

Household organic waste, as diverse as it can be in your bin – but excluding meat remains, bones, poop and large seeds – can be turned into biobased stuff. Powered by a fungus, it grows into shape, becoming a biodegradable material. Come grow a mycelium formed object, using household organic waste as substrate.

Catinca Tilea, socially curious artist and designer, is your guide through this process. Since 2018 she’s been experimenting with a main question in mind: what if everybody could build something from their own organic waste, nearby home?

This is a DIY-meets-biocraft workshop and it extends on Catinca’s research. After studying, experimenting, and a whole trend forming around biobased tinkering, it’s time to find out what it’s like to grow objects from (your own) food scraps. If you live in the neighbourhood, have biowaste in your bin, and are curious about how you can turn it into new stuff, then this workshop is probably for you. You need no prior knowledge to join and your organic waste is welcome to join too.

How it’ll go:

This is a half day workshop with 3 parts (11:00 – 13:30ish) - fermenting biowaste, creating your own object to be grown, and preparing the mycelium mixture in shape. We will all round up with a (vegan) lunch (included & free of charge) and an open discussion.

Keep in mind:

You will not be able to take your object home on the same day. This will have to incubate for about 10 days after which it will be ready to meet you.

Children:

Children accompanied by an adult are welcome to join too. Little ones can attend from the age at which they understand the importance of washing their hands and not putting everything in their mouth.

Catinca Tilea is a Rotterdam based artist and designer who’s work puts together creativity, participation and future-oriented visions. Since 2018 she has been experimenting with bio-tinkering as social practice, in exploration of our relationship with nature. HOW TO HOPE TO BE and NIMMA CAN DO are two examples of growing art together with the community. Her projects highlight how sharing knowledge can foster cultural change, making her approach relational. Catinca’s work forms the body of a social practice where collective creativity becomes both medium and message.