By Lazy Man Coffee (Thailand) & Invisible Flock (United Kingdom)
Opening reception Tuesday, July 28, 2026 18.00 – 20.00 hrs.
19.00 hrs.: an exhibition tour led by the Pga K’nyaw community leader and the artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A collaboration between Lazy Man Coffee (Thailand) and Invisible Flock (UK)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate and environmental change are reshaping life in Northern Thailand. Rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, unpredictable rainfall, air pollution, and biodiversity loss are increasingly affecting the health, livelihoods, and wellbeing of local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life and Land explores these changes through the experiences of the Pgak\u2019yau people, whose relationship with the environment is rooted in food sovereignty, traditional knowledge, and living in balance with nature. For generations, Pgak\u2019yau communities have practised rotational farming. Around the end of April, they carry out small, controlled burns on upland rice fields before the rainy season begins. This carefully-timed process clears weeds and returns nutrients to the soil. As the rains arrive, charcoal from the burn mixes with the earth, creating a natural fertilizer that supports diverse crops without the need for chemical inputs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, these traditional practices exist within a changing environmental and political landscape. While severe PM2.5 air pollution in the region is often associated with large-scale agricultural burning and forest fires, many Pgak\u2019yau people feel that their small-scale, community-managed burns are unfairly blamed. They argue that rotational farming is a sustainable and affordable practice that supports biodiversity, reduces dependence on pesticides, and helps maintain cultural knowledge passed down through generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the Pgak\u2019yau, the challenge of climate change is intertwined with questions of land, identity, and self-determination. As environmental pressures increase, communities continue to adapt while seeking to protect both their livelihoods and their relationship with the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pgak\u2019yau people are calling for a joined up approach to forest management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life and Land uses analogue photography, and local plants that grow on Pgak\u2019yau land in Ban Nong Tao as bio-developers. This experimentation with different photographic methods expresses how climate change is directly and indirectly affecting the health of the community over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project brings the act of image creation into direct dialogue with its own site, following the Pgak\u2019yau philosophy that Everyone has wind, air, fire, soil, rocks, sand, stars, in their body. We are part of those elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n