The Optomycelium exhibition is a hybrid study of ITMO University’s internal and external ecosystems. It is part of a larger project designed to expand scientific optics and integrate art practices into science. The name “Optomycelium” arose at the intersection of two concepts: “optics” and “mycelium” — a combination of ITMO University’s technological focus and a unique, branched system of fungal bodies. Being the largest organism on Earth, mycelium is an ecosystem that supports the interspecies life around it. Mycelium transfers nutrients between trees and useful information about resources, thus forming a wood wild web or “nature’s information network,” through which participants in the internal network receive messages about favorable development opportunities or signals about danger. Like mycelium, ITMO is a branched ecosystem that unites students, scientists, business representatives, and cultural institutions. The university consists of many "subworlds", research centers and departments, each of which has its own goals and tools for achieving them - while the ecosystem develops in a common direction, providing participants with a space for exchanging knowledge and resources. Such symbiosis contributes to the emergence of interdisciplinary connections and innovative projects. The exhibition "Optomycelium" presents art projects at the intersection of art, science and technology. Many exhibits were created by teachers, students and graduates of the Art & Science master's program with the support of laboratories and scientists of ITMO University. Others show the prospects for the development of interdisciplinary projects and look into the future of science. Combining research methods and artistic imagery, "Optomycelium" becomes a clear visualization of the principles of interspecies cooperation. The most important goal of the project is to form a new platform for collaboration between artists and scientists. Its activities will not cease with the end of the exhibition, but will be supported and developed, opening a new dimension for life, growth and innovative mutations.

Exhibition curator: Evgeny Khlopotov

Head of the project: Khristina Ots

Project managers of "Optomycelium":
Antonina Puchkovskaya, Khristina Ots

Director of the Center of Art and Science:
Aliya Sakhariev

Project producers:
Victoria Gopka, Ekaterina Yushkevich

Curators of the educational program:
Asya Kaplan, Victoria Gopka

Technical director of the exhibition:
Alexey Feskov

PR director:
Ekaterina Boglaeva

SMM manager:
Ekaterina Yudaeva, Valeria Godova

Design and layout:
Lyudmila Lutsyk

Technical support of the exhibition:
Rostislav Shtennikov

Mediators:
Yana Gadzhieva, Alexandra Burnusuz

Work on the website
Ethan Avila

Exhibition administrators:
Polina Antsiferova, Yana Sazanskaya

::vtol::, Galina Alferova, Grigory Kirgizov, Olga Kiseleva, Anastasia Lukuta, Boris Shershenkov, Ildar Yakubov

Artists: