Fungi deconstruct dead material, stripping it down to bare atoms, and making nutrients available to plant matter. Fungal hyphae can break down rock (!) making minerals available and as such, they have been credited with dismantling the early crusts of the earth creating soil and giving way to a planet that could sustain the plant kingdom. Plants then went on, supported by fungi, to create oxygen in the atmosphere allowing for life as we know it to evolve and for the future of Earth to unfold.

 

Fungi continue break down vegetation and other dead matter on a constant cycle that allows forests to thrive indefinitely. They provide medicine. They build relationships with other beings and create symbiotic organisms, like lichen. They use mycelia, a network that connects a wide variety of living organisms, to trade nutrients, sugars, warnings, and the yet undiscovered.

 

Transition times are ideal for deconstruction and reconstruction, so we invite the community to break down broken things and build something completely new. Consider the breakdown of failing systems and focus on rebuilding what’s important for our future: reconciliation with Indigenous communities, our response to climate change, supporting healthy communities by scaling back our consumption and thinking locally, and simply connecting with each other.

 

ACAP staff and interested community members will each create a specimen to amass a network of fungi that will be presented at Lumiere as a field guide.

 

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