Material Sites

hat happens when materials are approached not as passive matter, but as living systems of knowledge, transformation and exchange?

Using marine-based biomaterials as a starting point, this session with Heidi Jalkh explores how materials can connect ecology, craft, science and embodied forms of making. Drawing from her research into seashell waste transformed into marine-based bioceramics, Heidi reflects on how a single material investigation can unfold across multiple disciplines from biology and chemistry to design, experimentation and collaborative practice.

The talk will conclude with a live demonstration of the process, offering audiences the opportunity to engage directly with the transformation of seashell waste into marine-based bioceramics.

Heidi Jalkh is an experimental designer, educator, and researcher specialised in the intersection of bio-fabricated materials, interdisciplinary research, and craft-based processes. Colombian-born and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina , her practice investigates how knowledge emerges through embodied making, experimentation, and material behaviour.

Heidi is the head of the research group Sistemas Materiales, an associate member of Matters of Activity, and has been recognised with the 2022 Humboldt Innovation Prize and the 2024 Experimental Fellowship at Bauhaus Earth.

Heidi Jalkh’s residency is supported Amaya-Boffi Collection and Delfina’s Network of Patrons for Latin America & the Caribbean

Making and Materiality

This event is part of the public programme of Delfina Foundation’s first season of Making and Materiality, in partnership with Armature.