Would swapping a bit of sourdough mothers be owning some parts of each other?
Sourdough making not only links us to our surrounding nature in terms of cultivation and food cultures but also emphasises our collaborative relationship with microbes. Preparing the sourdough relies on the coexistence of nature and the species we share the world with. Scientifically, sourdough starters, also called the 'Mothers', grow in collaboration with hand bacteria through microbial communication, and their identity comes from the region's yeast, flour, air, and water. 'Mothers' capture the trace, the microbes, the unseen. They can be an extension of a person, a city, or even a culture.
The Project Microbial Mother City (MMC) investigates ways of building kinship with non-human species and the mechanisms of care, which we should start to perceive in this current world where the definition of living beings expands, and new kinds of beings emerge. Using the Quarantine Sourdough culture as a starting point, 'Mothers', could be a way of making. Kin opens and accelerates the world to understand the importance of symbiosis. MMC speculates scenarios and life of collectivity through diverse intimate relationships with sourdough 'Mothers'. By understanding and re-orienting our relationships with microorganisms, it would be possible to imagine a world structured by different values, ultimately leading to imagining and designing relationships with multispecies, strengthened by the idea around bonds.