Anna Dumitriu Blog

1st April 2020

This 1665 style “Plague Dress” (2018) is made from raw silk, hand-dyed with walnut husks in reference to the famous herbalist of the era Nicholas Culpeper who recommended walnuts as a treatment for Plague. The dress is appliqued with original 17th century embroideries which Anna Dumitriu has impregnated with the DNA of Yesinia pestis bacteria […]

2nd July 2026

“The Amyloid Necklace” (2026) explores research into amyloidosis and contains beads and 3D printed organs, referencing those that are affected by the disease, which are safely embedded with lab grown amyloid ‘seeds’ — small fragments of amyloid fibrils grown from the same protein originally identified in the blood of a systemic amyloidosis patient, and now […]

16th August 2022

“Zenexton” (2022) is a contemporary amulet to ward off disease. In around 1570 Theophrastus Paracelsus coined the mysterious term Zenexton, to mean an amulet that would be worn around the neck and protect the wearer from the plague. Until that time amulets had a more general purpose of warding off (unspecified) disease, rather like the […]

27th April 2025

“Infusoria: One Health and Antimicrobial Resistance” (2025) is a collaboration with Modernising Medical Microbiology that explores how issues like climate change, rain and wastewater management are implicated as drivers of antimicrobial resistance and how new technologies such as whole genome sequencing are used to identify and understand antimicrobial resistance. This body of artworks explores the […]

29th November 2024

Black Rock Beachcombers (2024) are three innovative permanent public sculptures created for the new boardwalk at Black Rock on the eastern seafront of Brighton (UK) designed by Anna Dumitriu and Alex May. Combining 3D photogrammetry scanning and 3D modelling these 3D printed digital collages reveal hidden stories about the nature, the people and the engineering […]

3rd March 2020

“The Mutability of Memories and Fates” responds to the scientific concepts of cell memory and cell fates. The exhibition presents a series of artworks resulting from artistic research of epigenetics and stem cells. The artist, Anna Dumitriu, picks up the scientific expressions of “cell memories” and “cell fates, drawing connections between scientific uses and cultural […]

17th February 2025

This artwork explores the epigenetic impact of violence, conflict and famine with a focus on intergenerational trauma, and food as a form of comfort during times of conflict, in the context of “postmemory”. The team comprising Anna Dumitriu, Professor of War and Society, Rachel Kerr, and curator Cécile Bourne-Farrell from the Department of War Studies […]

3rd March 2023

The “Fermenting Futures” project (2022) by Anna Dumitriu and Alex May explores the significance of yeast biotechnology from a cultural and aesthetic perspective, engaging audiences in the history and future of this important, but under-recognised, field. The project was created in collaboration with Professor Diethard Mattanovich, Professor Michael Sauer, Dr. Özge Ata and Dr. Martin […]

27th March 2020

“Make Do and Mend” (2016-17) is artwork created by Anna Dumitriu as part of The FEAT (Future Emerging Art and Technology) residency programme. The piece references the 75th anniversary of the first use of penicillin in a human patient in 1941 and takes the form of an altered antique wartime women’s suit marked with the […]

31st March 2020

Chandelier AR (2024) explores how biomaterials and augmented reality art can impact sustainability and the circular economy in the wine industry. Dumitriu has created an intricate hand-made chandelier installation using wine waste, specifically biotextiles made using spolied wine and feccia (final grape pressing) kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic cultures of yeast and bacteria), and bio-plastics and bio-composites […]