TopLab is hosting four workshops in March. Every Saturday, we will organize these following workshops.

2018-March-03  Natural Dyes and Pigments (by Alessandro Volpato & Flavia Barragan)

Join us on March 3rd at >TopLab to explore the potential of natural dyes and colorants. In this hands-on class you will learn fundamental techniques to extract pigments from plants, fruits and bacteria that you will be able to apply on your favorite material.
In the second part of the workshop we will discover how light interacts with matter using a homemade spectrophotometer.

Bring your imagination, your favorite flowers or fruits, paper and fabric!!!

RSVP now and get a stunning wooden rack for test tubes to keep your creations.

2018-March-10, Algature (by Fara Peluso)

Diatoms are photosynthetic microalgae that produce 20% of the oxygen on Earth. They are the most important little organisms that most people never heard of! Although tiny, diatoms play an immense role in keeping the planet’s ecosystem working. They’re important mediators of carbon and oxygen cycles, an integral component of marine food webs and the principal cycles of silica, which constitutes 25% of the Earth’s crust.

The workshop will show the general diatoms’ features (photosynthesis, aspects, colors…) and how you can cultivate them at home.

2018-March-17, Mycorrhizal networks or how do I hack plant conversations (by Mindaugas Gapševičius)

Fungi are able to biodegrade organic and inorganic elements, including slowly degradable elements such as cellulose, toxins, and heavy metals. Fungi are also known for being able to transport chemical elements within their networks and their ability to exchange chemical elements with plants. During the workshop, you will learn how to cultivate Oyster mushrooms and its mycelium. We will also think about possible uses for home and industry.

2018-March-24, Let it glow! (by Mirela Alistar)

Living in a voluntary relationship with the sea animals, Photobacterium has developed a social sense directly connected to its bioluminescence. In this open workshop, everyone will influence the social life of Photobacterium in an attempt to make it glow. Practically, you will learn to culture the bacteria on agar plates and then grow it at home until it glows beautifully. Everyone is welcome to the workshop, that means also children and young adults. No prior knowledge is needed and all the materials are provided by us.

All the workshops will start at 3 pm and will run around two hours.

These workshops are organized on behalf of the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign we did December 2017. If you are one of the supporters via indiegogo, please write us which workshop you would like to attend. We need your confirmation 3 days prior to the workshop to add you to our paid-guest list.

More info and reservations: Tuce Silahtarlioglu tuce [@] me.com