Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez
Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez works as a curator and researcher on art and ecology, and is based in Mexico-City. She founded and directed many international initiatives at the intersection of art and ecology, including the Gala – Green Art Lab Alliance and the Nature Research Department; the Van Eyck Food Lab; and the Future Materials Bank at the Jan van Eyck Academie (the Netherlands).
Gala – Green Art Lab Alliance is a mycelium-like network of art organisations contributing to environmental sustainability through their creative practice. Gala act as a ‘knowledge alliance’; strategically sharing resources, information and solidarity. Since 2012 Gala has grown with partners in Europe, Asia and Latin-America. The alliance connects and empowers art centres, museums, residencies, art collectives, activists and grassroots initiatives that are strongly embedded in their local communities.
The Future Materials Bank is an archive of materials that supports and promotes the transition towards ecologically conscious art and design practices. By collecting information and samples from makers around the world, the archive aims to inspire research and disseminate knowledge about sustainable materials. The collection of the Bank is continuously growing, offering insights into how the concept of sustainability evolves in the fields of art and design.
Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez is the author of Let’s Become Fungal! Mycelium Teachings and the Arts (Valiz, 2023). This publication takes its inspiration from the world of art and mycology and shares innovative practices from Latin America and the Caribbean that are rooted in multispecies collaboration, symbiosis, alliances, non-monetary resource exchange, decentralization, bottom-up methods and mutual dependency – all in line with the behavior of the mycelium.