Arts, Cultural Heritage, Sciences and Micro-/Bio-/Techno-/Logy: impact of biomaterials and biocolorants from antiquity till today!

Nature has inspired and provided humans with ideas, concepts and thoughts on design, art and performance for millenia. From early societies when humankind often took shelter in caves, until today, many materials and colorants to express feelings or communicate with one another, were derived from plants, animals or microbes. In this manuscript, an overview of these natural products used in the creation of art, is given, from paintings on rocks to fashionable dresses made from bacterial cellulose. Besides offering many examples of art works, also the origin and application of various biomaterials and colorants are discussed. While many facets of our daily lives have changed over millenia, one certainty has been that humans have an intrinsic need to conceptualize and create to express themselves. Driven by technological advances in the past decades and in the light of global warming, new and often more sustainable materials and colorants have been discovered and implemented. The impact of art on human societies remains relevant and powerful.