On Thursday April 3 at 19:30 until 21:30, Stadslab Eindhoven welcomes Octophina, a multidisciplinary artist, social designer, entrepreneur, and creative empowerment coach, for an inspiring TecTalk on upcycling, innovation, and the power of creative collaboration.
What if trash wasn’t the problem — but our imagination was?
This TecTalk will explore how discarded objects can become catalysts for creativity and social impact, recapping the most recent Sustainable Fashion Playground and unveiling a bigger story about education, technology, and community-driven innovation. Octophina is seeking collaborators, supporters, and curious minds to help grow this movement and revolutionize the way we see — and use — trash.
Building on the success of the Sustainable Fashion Playground format – free educational events where participants learn to transform discarded materials into wearable art in just a few hours, Octophina now invites sustainability enthusiasts and nature lovers to look beyond a single event and into a growing TRASH?! Ecosystem: a scalable, replicable movement that merges technology, creativity, and discarded materials to tackle overconsumption and disconnection.
At the heart of this vision are initiatives like the TRASH-a-thon — a free 5-day summer school that invites makers, artists, and innovators of all ages and skill levels to work with everything from textiles and wood to electronics and old lamps, crafting futuristic innovations that blend multiple domains — and TRASH-formers — a world championship for turning trash into treasure.
From founding TRASH?!, a social enterprise that upcycles discarded materials into unique, handmade collections and gives people access to inspiration, education, and entertainment related to creative empowerment, upcycling innovation, and meaningful connections, to her role as a contributing figure in events like De Nacht van Strijp-S and Dutch Design Week, Octophina is passionate about using art and design to drive social change. Her work spans from empowering individuals through creativity to developing sustainable, community-driven solutions that challenge our perception of waste.
RSVP for free and be part of this exciting journey toward a more sustainable, creative future!
