Make Seaweed Streamers with Bethan Laura Wood

Inspired by Bethan's installation for Hull City of Culture, you will be inspired and guided to design your own design pieces. You'll also learn how the studio collaborates with manufacturers to bring imaginative concepts to life. Originally developed in 2017 for a takeover of the historic smokehouse during Hull’s City of Culture, Seaweed Streamers is a collaboration between the designer and the renowned paper merchant GF Smith. The installation combines the organic forms of British seaweed with structural details inspired by kite constructions. Crafted from vibrant paper, these seaweed forms gently sway, creating a suspended world of colour and shapes where nature, industry, and architecture meet. In this workshop, you'll experiment with laminated paper-cutting, twisting, and assembling it to create your own fantasy seaweed. You’ll choose from pre-designed shapes to build your own streamers or design and hand-cut your own unique interpretations of these underwater plants. You'll also learn more about Bethan’s practice and how the studio works through projects, collaborating closely with manufacturers to create innovative designs. This project connects to the roots of Bethan’s creative journey, from her childhood obsession with transforming paper into imaginative forms, to the large-scale sculptural works she produces today. Bethan's works are currently on display at the Design Museum, as part of PLATFORM: Bethan Laura Wood, an annual display dedicated to showcasing contemporary design practice.