Reviving Nature began with a question: how might artists help us pay closer attention to the natural world and our relationship with it?
The first programme in 2024 brought together artists working across different disciplines and perspectives. I was present during that first edition. It gave me a deeper understanding of how environmental issues connect places and people, often in ways we do not immediately see. Air pollution, for example, respects no national boundaries. The haze that blanketed Singapore and Malaysia, caused by man-made fires in Indonesia last month, was a stark reminder of this.
One of the many artists involved in the first edition of Reviving Nature was Sara Wolman, whose practice brings together visual art, natural history, science, conservation, technology and public engagement. Her work reflects an interest in how art can help people engage with the natural world and think differently about their place within it. Sara later returned for another residency and became our first Extended Residency artist in Singapore.
The programme continued to develop through Botanical Breath in 2025/2026, which explored plants, air quality and respiratory health. Working with BF Botanical Friendship and local partners, artists looked at the medicinal plants and herbs that are part of everyday life in Thailand. These became starting points for conversations about traditional knowledge, health and the environment. The work took different forms, including photography, illustration, design and other artistic approaches.
For Studio 88, the programme has been a learning and eye-opening process. Environmental themes can easily become broad or abstract. Working with artists and local practitioners helped bring them closer to everyday experience. It showed audiences emotive, thought-provoking ways of seeing our natural world, our roles, and our responsibilities to nature and to one another.
Reviving Nature will return in 2027, running from 4 January to 28 March, under the theme Play • Learn • Perform • Participate.
We are interested in work that approaches nature with curiosity and imagination, and that finds ways to involve people in the process. We invite artists and creative practitioners to join us in Chiang Mai for the next edition. Applications are open until 14 November 2026.
Opinion piece by Wong Koi Hin.
