Vivian Lee (she/we) is a social artist, facilitator, somatic therapist, and soil cultivator. She dwells at the intersection of art, ecology and well-being, focusing on regeneration and healing for oneself, communities and the planet. Her embodied practice is climate-aware, nature-centred and trauma-informed.
She sees community as essential, and loves bringing people together for nourishing conversations and mindfulness practices, exploring regenerative ways of being in response to the complexities of a changing world. Her social art and research practice weaves together realities and imaginaries in transdisciplinary and interdimensional fields, tuning into liminal spaces as portals for inspiration and guidance.
Her personal journey in reconnecting to Mother Earth brought her to a village in Northern Thailand where she co-created Garden of L.E.A.H. — a conscious living practice space where the culmination of her soil and social action research took form in the process of learning how to grow her own food and build her own little mud house. Back in Singapore, Vivian guides the vision and shapes the culture of Living Soil Asia - an organisation in education and research in soil regeneration in Singapore.
Currently, Vivian is casting her divining rod into the deep land and waters for the creation of Soil and Somatics, integrating her work in soil regeneration, mindful living and somatic practice.
Vivian is no stranger to the Riau islands, having spent some time in and out of Bintan and a small fishing village named Pulau Dendun some two decades ago. A water baby, she is looking forward to the residency to connect her care for the soil on land and the call of the sea.
More from Vivian here:
https://www.instagram.com/gardenofleah/
Megan Sin (she/her) is a creative being. In the recent years, she has been working closely with food and people—in her personal kitchens and in invited kitchens. Her interactions with people who cook, people who cultivate and distribute food bring her on an odyssey to discover the stories behind our ingredients and the becoming of the dishes we enjoy. As a child to second generation immigrants, she reflects on her cultural heritage, contemplating how migration and relocation have shaped our traditions and diets. Currently, she is documenting familial recipes, in the process, she discovers stories and also learns to cook with more ingredients from our bioregion. Her works and choice of spaces she works in have been moulded by the people and experiences she has encountered throughout her journey in theatre, movement, writing and research.
Her past works created as Sin ⼼ include I just laid my installations into two things uninstalled, an outdoor performance piece in 2018; the universe is a collage of bruises, a manuscript in 2020; i ‘ m m o r a l i t y , a manuscript and performance piece in 2021- ongoing, as well as interactive online photo journals like Blood and 霸占空间 in 2021. Her research on food, environmental humanities and on soil as a research fieldworker at Living Soil Asia have instilled in her a deep sensitivity towards these issues, profoundly shaping all aspects of her life. In this season, she is an educator and facilitator, working closely with children on creative writing. She looks to further develop this practice as she draws lessons from Earth. She has a vision—to create and offer a space for community and education that is sensible and mindful of planetary boundaries.
We are what we eat, and we are how we eat.
Eating is perhaps the most intimate act that we do on a daily basis where we put something into our mouth to become a part of our bodymind—affecting the quality of our lives, and so much more. This alchemising and gathering of food, together with the act of eating, intricately weaves into the fabric of our daily lives, not only shaping our health but also resonating and reaching far beyond our plates.
We are also what our food eats. How we grow our food and the environmental conditions impact the nutritional quality of our food; this in turn affects our individual physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Taking a wider lens, our individual health also affects our relationships and, hence, our community, society and the world. Taking a longer lens, our health is part of our inheritance from our ancestors, and will also flow into the well-being of our descendants. All is a continuation, as we are not separate selves.
Modern technologies and global trading provide food for us from almost every part of the planet. The health-conscious amongst us are increasingly choosing natural and organic foods—if we can afford it. Most times, these foods come from faraway lands. How much power do we have, as consumers, to shift the needle in the food market, potentially shaping its dynamics to become more supportive and accessible to both planet and people? Many of us are often not aware of our food sources and the energies it takes for our food to arrive onto our table. Much of the industrial food system causes environmental degradation, cultural and biodiversity loss, public health issues and even wars.
This disconnection from the source of our nutriment propagates more disconnections from ourselves, our community and Nature; in turn, this disconnection has led us, humans, to doings that have created the polycrisis we face today.
How might we reconnect to our essential source of nutriments and our authentic self?
In a modern world driven by faceless systems, how might we reclaim agency to choose how we live our lives?
Can an intuitive inner listening to our bellies guide us home?
What deep wisdom are we ready to listen to from the land and sea for guidance?
Visits to the island farm and the turtle sanctuary, amongst other locations, will inform the emergence of stories and outcome of this residency.
Through the practice of mindful eating and conscious consumption, this interactive and experiential workshop will explore what and how we eat as an entry point to connect to the world at large. From silent to social mindful eating and tuning into our bodymind, participants will be guided through a process of deepening awareness and widening connections. Facilitated conversations will include topics on the food system and our place in it.
This is an invitation to open our hearts, minds and souls to listen deeply with compassion, and to tune in to our guts. We will explore the sacred elements and interconnections of food, soil and sea as a way to re-member our way home to ourselves and reconnect to our place in the larger ecosystems. Guests and residents of all species are welcome to join.
How does soil connect us to food, land and home?
In this residency, we explore these four main themes of soil, food, land and home.
After we arrived on Bintan, as we were driven across the island to the Nikoi jetty, we were struck by the red colour of the exposed subsoil. We later learnt that the mining of bauxite ore for aluminium has been going on for centuries. However, the scale and speed of it is getting larger with the modern technology, and in the recent years, the Indonesian government has banned the export of raw material. Now, foreign smelting factories are on the island to obtain the aluminium for better profit instead of exporting the raw bauxite ore cheaply. When we shared our observations and sentiments witnessing such extractive acts with the staff, some of them from Bintan shared their childhood stories of growing up in this environment, playing with the red earth as children, and making vases, with no awareness of the environmental and health impact. What is our relationship to land and how do we relate to these human activities that are causing so much environmental harm?
Our research on soil and food brought us to the Nikoi farm on Bintan island, and we were so grateful that Chef Dika could also meet us there. On the farm, we met the five farmers tending to the land. Of the 5, 3 of them grew up on the land as that was where their self-subsistent family farm used to be. We learnt about the history of the land and the farm practices, observed the soil and collected some soil samples for our testing. As the conversation flowed, we were reminded of the challenges of tending to the land and growing organic food. How do we invite people to connect to the land that feeds us, bring awareness to the source of our nourishment, and the hard- and heart- work that goes into putting food on our table?
Back in Ubah Rumah, we conceptualised and created the exhibition “Serving Soils”, sharing some fun facts about soil and inviting visitors to get more acquainted with the different types of soils through their senses. Many visitors were fascinated by what they saw and learned about the soils and began to think of how and where their food came from. The story of the red earth also struck them, as did the bauxite ore that they had noticed in the car ride on Bintan on their way to Nikoi.
In wanting to share the practice of mindful eating with the guests, we started working with the carpenter team to create a series of dining cards with meal blessings to be placed on the dining table as an invitation to the guests to enjoy their food with gratitude. We also had a chance to do a food mapping and storytelling workshop with a few staff members, including chef Dika, whose passion for food and cooking comes through his generous sharing of his knowledge and recipes.
On the theme of home, we were drawing inspiration from our more-than-human kin – turtles. Nikoi is a nesting island for green turtles and hawksbill turtles. During our stay, there were over 30 nests across the island, with the eggs ready to hatch over a few months. We had the blessing to witness not one but two nests of turtles hatching! Witnessing how the baby turtles use all their might to head towards the sea and seeing their tiny bodies disappearing into the large ocean, was a moving experience: wishing them all the best, and praying that they will find their way home and return to these shores against all odds in over a decade.
Another lovely connection we made was with Mutia, a marine biologist, who shared her interest in conducting water quality research in the region. She shared her journey that led her to being a marine biologist, her love for the ocean, and her aspiration to do more research and conservation work in the region. Before the end of our residency, we held a mindful movie experience. We watched the “Elemental” episode from the series “Our Universe” with the staff who shared our interest in turtles. We held space for some sharing after watching the film. Would we know how to find our way home, like the turtles, against all odds? What does home mean to us? What is our role as human beings in protecting other lives and our planet Earth, our collective home?
While we were only there for two weeks, it felt short, and at the same time, it felt like we’ve been there for a while already. The practice of radical hospitality comes through in the warmth, kindness and generous spirit of all the staff we met on both Nikoi and Cempedak islands, and it did not take long for us to feel a sense of familiarity with the people and place, even though it is our first time there. As we reflect on our times there, we are amazed at how much we have done and experienced, both in terms of the research fieldwork, the workshops and activities for the residency, the output of the exhibition and dining cards, and also a lot of time spent on slow eating, long meals, spending time in the water swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, sailing and just hanging out with the lovely staff sharing heartfelt stories and vibes. What lingers in our hearts are the connections made and experiences co-created with all the living beings we had the blessings to share space with and make home while away from home together.
Island time feels elastic and stretchy, the slow pace facilitated fresh inspirations and easeful expressions of our practices and we are truly enriched by the experience. The phrase “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” by Lao Tzu, comes to mind. This experience came true in our two weeks on Nikoi island. The residency has inspired time for rest and play while also space and time for us to continue to explore and develop our research and practice. We are grateful for the opportunity to experiment and prototype offerings that we will continue to iterate in future sharings.
Ubah Rumah is an art residency and archive inspired by stories of our region.
