#DesignIndaba2020: Natsai Audrey Chieza promoting sustainability and eliminating waste in fashion
Born in Zimbabwe, Chieza moved to the UK when she was 17, later studying architecture at Edinburgh University and then gaining a masters degree in materials futures at Central St Martins in London.
Project Coelicolor
Chieza is passionate about promoting sustainability and eliminating waste in fashion and therefore her company, Faber Futures, has discovered a way to forgo resource-costly textile dying by using bacteria instead.
Chieza has also been combining the fields of science and design alongside Professor John Ward of the Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London. Together they have developed Project Coelicolor – a series of projects exploring the use of bio pigments for textiles.
Project Coelicolour is the result of nearly a decade of research. “I have spent about eight years iterating on my design protocols to integrate S.coelicolor in the production of textiles, building the tools, choreographing the design methods, recording and building a real understanding of how you can co-create with living systems.” Chieza told TLmag.
International speaker on emergent futures
With a highly influential practice in the contemporary design for ecology movement, Chieza has exhibited at prestigious institutions including at the Cooper Hewitt (US), Pompidou Centre (FR), Vitra Design Museum (DE), The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, The Victoria & Albert Museum (UK) and Science Gallery Dublin (IE). Her work has been acquired by the Cooper Hewitt (US) and sits in the permanent collection at Forbes Pigment Collection at Harvard Art Museums (US).
Chieza is on the founding and curatorial team of Ginkgo Bioworks’ "Ginkgo Creative Residency" in Boston (US), has held teaching posts at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Central Saint Martins and has been a member of numerous international jury panels for innovation awards and prizes.
An international speaker on emergent futures, Chieza is named on OkayAfrica’s "100 Women 2018" for her work in STEM, Icon Magazine's 2019 "Icon Design 100" list and It's Nice That's "Ones to Watch 2019".
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