The Ban Nong Tao Garden presents Walk Like a Bee, a living documentary that merges the science of rotational farming with Pgak’yau folk wisdom to share multiple perspectives around fire forests and spiritual connection. Viewers connect with Northern Thailand’s ecosystem by encountering the same granular decisions that indigenous communities consider when safeguarding their forest homes against the backdrop of colonial conservation policies. It’s a game of perspective. This collaboration brings together a global collective of people from different fields, worldviews and cultures; looking to communities with deeply rooted connections to their land in order to explore how nature and our psyches are intrinsically linked, and how storytelling methodologies can help us to equitably communicate these complexities to audiences.

Walk Like a Bee, Invisible Flock – Land Body Ecologies, Ban Nong Tao (TH) Jennifer Katanyoutanant (TH), Credit: Michaella Phoenix

Walk Like a Bee, Invisible Flock – Land Body Ecologies, Ban Nong Tao (TH) Jennifer Katanyoutanant (TH), Credit: Michaella Phoenix

Walk Like a Bee, Ban Nong Tao Garden, Credit: Siwakorn Odochao

Siwakorn Odochao: Siwakorn Odochao is a Pgak’yau (Karen) farmer and coffee producer who grew up in a Karen village with nine brothers and sisters, learning local wisdom and traditional knowledge. He has a Master’s degree from Open University, studying global change with local roots at ARI (Asean Rural Institute) in 2009. He believes that small scale farming can lead to sustainable development and beautiful living.

Jennifer Katanyoutanant: Jennifer Katanyoutanant works with interactive media to facilitate communication and co-create systems of sharing and exchange. Recent fascinations include food systems, research through sensory interactions, playable critical thought, and virtual spaces for shifting power imbalance. Past projects explored ecological manifestations of the Youtube recommendation algorithm, diverse creative communities in emerging technology, and cultivating remote intimacy through food and web performance.

Invisible Flock: Invisible Flock is an award-winning interactive arts studio based at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK operating at the intersection of art and technology. They create highly sensory installations and environments asking us to renegotiate our emotional relationship to the natural world. Their work aims to open up critically important ways of thinking about how we live, how we connect and share to better live in a global society.