Tried to make connection between the traditional crafts and biodiversity studies today, at the International congress of Traditional art and culture in Khanty-Mansiysk, the section on Methods and technologies of reconstruction of the archaeological and ethnographic heritage.

The cause of building such a distant bridge was our interest in fungal dyes and how they could be used by artists and craftsmans in the region. The presentation seems to sparked interest in the audience (few have ever heard about this technology before). I promised our help in ID and any related studies of dyeing species, so hope that there could be some collaborative work in the future. And i was also amazed by how many craft technologies are studied and developed in our region, like weaving, pottery, jewelry, making traditional clothes, rugs and many others.

Our presentation with the report (Pdf) (The benefits of biodiversity studies for the revival of traditional crafts: obtaining natural dyes from mushrooms in Yugra) (in Russian).

Link to the Congress Program.

This bark could look abandoned and clean, but if one will take its samples, cultivate them in wet chambers and then learn one-selves to be a specialist in Corticolous Myxomycetes, this would make a difference. As there is a whole community of these tiny creatures, currently in dormant stage but will thrive in wet warm conditions of a chamber. The tree species, size and age matters; as well as vegetation type, bark exposition, and height — all forming different composition of myxo-communities.

Thus, i am involved in an inventory of Corticolous Myxomycetes in our location. A specialist in this group from Novosibirsk botanical garden asked my help as a samples collector; which means wandering through forests from tree to tree with an ax .. gently scratching some pieces of the tree’s bark.

Also wrote a formula of such collaborative work borrowing Remote Access term from INTERACT language (https://fungariumysu.org/remote-access/).

An album where all photos of sampling in the field collected:

The last time i published our Mycological Library update was last spring and after half of year we have some new comers. Not many, but interesting and specific books.

Four Conference Proceedings are here from meetings in Moscow, Zvenigorod and in Irkuts.

An excellent guide on plant-pathogenic fungi for students, describing mycobiota of this important group nearby Zvenigorod field station of MSU, by Ekaterina Blagoveschenskaya.

An excellent summary of Polypore fungi inventory made by a collective of mycologists during a workshop in Central Forest reserve (with a simple key for this group, was already helpful to me in the field!).

And lastly, two sources about Fungal Dyes by Miriam Rice: a CD and a book about dyeing, making paper from polypores and making paints from mushrooms.
The library is opened to all curious!

+ one extra for the smallest ones 🙂