Mycelium
decolonial research lab
[Грыбнiца]
Mycelium [Грыбнiца] is a decolonial research lab that warmly invites researchers, artists, and activists to explore together the colonial entanglements shaping Belarus, and to imagine possible decolonial futures.
We start from the understanding that coloniality is not a metaphor:
it is embedded in infrastructures, the militarization of everyday life, the traces left in archives, and the landscapes we inhabit.
Yet we approach this work in a hospitable and caring way – supporting one another, exchanging knowledge, sharing experiences, and holding space for both critical analysis and collective hope.
Mycelium [Грыбнiца] was born in response to the growing co-optation of decolonial discourse by conservative agendas. Rather than preserving so-called “traditional values,” we aim to confront and unpack the concrete infrastructures of oppression and dependency.
By engaging with infrastructures, even in their ruins or absences, we uncover how systems of power and dependency are maintained, dismantled, and reassembled. This lens also helps us notice the cracks through which decolonial imagination can grow.
The metaphor of mycelium, invisible yet vital, complex, and rhizomatic, reflects not only the hidden networks of colonial power, but also the ways solidarity, resistance, and emancipatory practices can connect us across contexts. Here, we cultivate a space where learning is mutual, imagination is shared, and the work of decoloniality is sustained collectively.
Mycelium 1
(2023–2024)
Participants:
Volha Aniska
lisa deikun
Viktoryia Hrabennikava
tony lashden
Marie Manushka
Olga Mzhelskaya
Antonina Stebur
Varvara Sudnik
Vera Zalutskaya
Format:
on-site (Warsaw, Poland)
Mycelium 1 (2023–2024) brought together nine researchers, artists, and activists exploring colonial dependencies and decolonial practices in Belarus and beyond.
The core focus of this first edition was to analyze and develop key conceptual tools for decolonial practice – tools that could help navigate the complex, multilayered realities of Belarusian colonial entanglements.
Over a year, participants engaged in hybrid learning formats, including lectures, group discussions, research case presentations, collective mapping sessions, and public interventions.
This cohort laid the groundwork for a shared language of decolonial thinking, connecting personal research with broader infrastructural and political analysis.
Location: Solidarity Center of Culture “Sunflower”, Zachęta — National Gallery of Art, Centrum Społeczności Romskiej, as well as meetings in private, hospitable places
Mycelium 2
(2025–2026)