World 91, Enactment i: report

Posted byAmy Twigger HolroydPosted inEnactment reportsTags:,
Enactment participant gazing up at a tree in the woods.

This Enactment was based on the discussions that took place during the development of

World 91, Exploration A

and is documented in the

World 91, Enactment i recipe
Participant’s legs and feet, shot from above, standing in an overgrown grassy area. The shoes are red with white spots, chosen for visiting the fungi.
Participant smartly dressed in an outfit in colours suggestive of fungi, leaning against a tree.
Knitting in progress on the lap of the knitter, sitting outdoors.
Footprints on a damp sandy beach strewn with pebbles, with seven arranged standing in a small circle.
A set of close-ups showing eight different types of fungus in various woodland settings, such as tree stumps, rotting trees and grass, together with the participant, dressed in green for her visit to the fungi.
Clusters of small orange mushrooms beneath a tree in parkland.
A bright red beret decorated with white spots.
Participant, dressed in shades of brown and grey, inspecting a strange fungus growing on a piece of broken tree branch.
A single small white mushroom growing in long grass, amongst broken twigs.
Pruned twigs and small branches discarded on a grassy bank.
Participant wearing a colourful long kaftan and wide-brimmed red hat, standing in quiet contemplation amongst trees just coming into leaf in a park.

For six weeks in early 2022, a group of geographically dispersed participants explored life in World 91.

The fiction guiding this Enactment:

Once a week in World 91, people undertake a quiet ritual: they present themselves to the mushrooms that are widely understood as spiritual guides.

For most, this practice involves a fleeting visit to a wooded area to enable a few minutes’ connection with either visible fungi or the hidden mycelial network, and reflection on cycles of decay and regeneration.

As a sign of respect in this nature-centric culture, people take great care over what they wear for the mushroom visits. Aesthetics vary, some adopt celebratory flamboyant styles, while others opt for a more subtle approach.

The mushrooms see it all.

Every weekend the participants were invited to take the opportunity to visit some fungi – or, in the absence of visible mushrooms, connect with hidden mycelial networks – and to share their experiences via a dedicated WhatsApp group. Additional contributions to the WhatsApp chat from fungi expert Fergus the Forager built our mushroom knowledge.

Read a comic inspired by this Enactment
Floral boots chosen for a visit to the fungi.
Close-up of unusual fungal growth spotted on a damp restaurant wall in Brighton.
Participant standing by a den built from bare twigs and branches, in woodland.
A small brown mushroom growing amidst small stones, dried leaves, sticks and moss at the base of a tree with fungal growth on the bark.
A small brown mushroom growing amidst small stones, dried leaves, sticks and moss at the base of a tree with pale green fungal growth on the bark.
Participant showing off her chosen outfit, in neutral shades of cream through to mushroom-brown.
A single small dark brown mushroom growing in sand, amidst dried grass stalks.
Participant dressed in a bright red suit, red top hat and green boots, squatting beneath tall bare trees, just off a path through a park.

Want to try this out for yourself?

View the Enactment recipe

This Enactment was devised by Amy Twigger Holroyd, building on an Exploration created by Elly Platt, Talia Hussain and Martin Benes, which was in turn developed from a World contributed by Suzanne Rowland, using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the authors and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.

Image credits: many thanks to Annebella Pollen, Charlie Millar, Elly Platt, Genevieve Rudd, Jade Lord, Julie Ripley, Kate Harper, Talia Hussain and another Fashion Fictions contributor.

Visit the original World 91 fiction
Visit World 91, Exploration A

Does this World remind you of something?

I am keen to hear about any historical or contemporary real-world examples – whether individual practices, subcultures or mainstream activities – that this fiction brings to mind.

Please share any such examples using this form. Thank you!

Published by Amy Twigger Holroyd

explorer of Fashion Fictions