Like everyone else around the world, my life has been vastly disrupted by Covid-19. I was traveling in India for a month until early March, and luckily left before it started to spread, which eventually led to a nationwide lockdown on 25th March. Then I arrived in Hong Kong days before the [...]

 
The first two days of "The sustainability of natural dyes" conference took place at Eastend hotel in Munnar, followed by two days of natural dyeing workshops (at an extra cost) at Aranya Natural's HQ. Due to limited numbers, all the spaces for the workshops filled up quickly, but many conference attendees requested [...]

 
Before visiting Munnar, I was not aware of the health issues related to tea plantation workers in India. Often foreign media would focus on the working conditions of garment factory workers, yet the problems related to tea plantation workers (primarily female) are largely ignored. Although they are not stuck inside cramped factories [...]

 
The purpose of my trip to India in February was to attend a natural dyeing conference. And it took place before COVID-19 changed our lives. Aranya Natural is a natural dyeing organisation under Srishti Trust in Munnar, supported by TATA Global Beverages Limited, which runs programs for the education training and rehabilitation [...]

Model room (2003), Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with Einar Thorsteinn
 
Although I have seen Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's works before, I was still hesitant to visit his "Olafur Eliasson: In real life" exhibition at Tate Modern fearing that it has been overhyped. Then when I went with a friend on one Friday evening [...]

Q & A with the director of Toxic Beauty
 
After seeing two powerful documentaries at the Raindance film festival, I thought to myself that we all have to be activists in this day and age. Recently when I met up with different friends, we would talk about how the world seems to be [...]

 
After my recent visit to the biotech hub Open Cell at the Shepherds Bush Market, I was keen to learn more about biodesign and its future. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long because at the London Design Festival this year, Open Cell organised an event called Biodesign Here Now at its [...]

Shepherds Bush market
 
In the last few years, we are hearing more of the terms 'biodesign' and 'biotech', but is it a fad or a breakthrough that will change our world? Recently, I joined a design-oriented walk called 'Human: Biophilia in community and design' organised by the Design Museum and curated by Something [...]

 
One of my favourite art organisations in London is the Camden Arts Centre. The reason is quite simple: they are not mainstream, and they always take risks. While many famous art institutions like the Royal Academy of Art and the Tate rely heavily on big names and blockbuster shows, Camden Arts Centre [...]

 
Fashioned from Nature exhibition at The V & A museum
 
It is time to face the truth: the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. This is not fake news, it is a fact.
Confession 1: I am guilty of polluting the environment, and I have been doing [...]