Mushroom Dyes

This excerpt from Miriam’s 1988 video, Mushrooms for Color: Dyeing with Fungi, gives a very good picture of her original research into the extraction of pigments from mushrooms to dye protein-based fibers for use in textiles. The full video, along with Mushrooms for Paper: Papermaking with Polypores, is streaming here free of charge.

 

Miriam Rice’s open-mindedness, her obvious talent for communication, explain the global dimension that she gave to her fascination with fungi. In addition to the multiple exhibitions, readings, conferences, and workshops studding her travels through United States and Canada, she undertook two major initiatives: the International Fungi and Fiber Symposium and the International Mushroom Dye Institute (IMDI).

Since its inception in 1980, the International Fungi and Fiber Symposium has been organized every two or three years by a different host country (USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia, Estonia…). These festivals publicized each of Miriam Rice’s innovations to a growing community of professionals and amateurs.

The IMDI was founded in 1985 after the co-publication of the book, Skapa Svampfärgat Garn, in Sweden, the authors having chosen to invest a percentage of the book royalties in the creation of a non-profit organization, primarily for educational purposes. The mission of the IMDI is “to encourage the use of Fungal Pigments; to further research on their extraction and employment; to encourage research and cultivation of dye fungi; to financially assist artists and researchers to participate in international symposia and exhibitions.”

The complete history of these organizations and examples of the products of Miriam’s research are available on www.mushroomsforcolor.com.

More resources (articles, videos, web pages) can be found here.