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Land Body Ecologies

An Ogiek man stands in the middle of lush green trees and plants in Mau Forest, Kenya.
Stephen Ngusilo, an Ogiek Elder, walks through the Mau Forest in Kenya, one of Land Body Ecologies Hubs. © Jason Tyler. Courtesy of Land Body Ecologies.

Residents from 2021 to 2024, Land Body Ecologies (LBE), led by interactive arts studio Invisible Flock, were a global transdisciplinary network exploring the relationship between mental health and ecosystem health. 

LBE were our fourth Hub residents. They brought together artists, expert communities, researchers, designers, conservationists, technologists and activists from fields including psychology, arts, human rights, sustainability, sociology, design and medicine.

Together they researched the phenomenon of solastalgia, a developing field of global health, defined as the emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change and land-rights issues. Environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht, who coined the term, describes it as “the feeling of homesickness while you are still at home”.

LBE was initiated by Invisible Flock, a multi award-winning interactive arts studio and grant recipient of the Hub Award. LBE was The Hub’s first international project.

As a decentralised group collaborating across teams and locations, aiming to strike a careful balance between autonomy and collaboration, it was important for LBE to expand the concept of The Hub as a single place to a network of hubs. Thus, in addition to The Hub in central London at Wellcome Collection, LBE set up community-embedded research centres across six other localities. At the heart of the project are Indigenous and land-dependent communities including Ogiek in Kenya, Batwa in Uganda, Pgak’yau (Karen) in Northern Thailand, Sámi in Sápmi, as well as communities living in the buffer zones of the Bannerghatta National Park in India and communities affected by the damming of rivers in Northern Finland.

Environmental trauma links to important place-based aspects of life; it threatens the sources of livelihood, emotional bonding with the environment, a sense of collectivity, personal and family histories, community history and memories. Trauma is not only caused by the event that changed the environment, but also by its consequences: a sense of injustice, disappointment in society, powerlessness and understanding that one has no say and cannot influence events, or that resistance feels very difficult or useless.

Excerpt from ‘I Come From Nowhere – I Am No Good’ by Outi Autti, Victoria Pratt, Sylvia Kokunda and Daniel M Kobei, a chapter in ‘Stories of Solastalgia’ by Land Body Ecologies

The Hub space during the LBE residency acted as a creative studio, providing a base for the group’s transdisciplinary and collaborative research as well as acting as a site for dialogue and engagement with different stakeholders and audiences. The research involved mixed methodologies across arts and science practices, data-gathering and storytelling, advocacy, activism and public events. The group also received unique access to resources and teams in Wellcome and Wellcome Collection.

Research outputs

Outputs spanned research, policy, culture and media (including podcasts), and featured a partnership with the WHO to design and deliver the Global Health Pavilion at COP27 and COP28. Indigenous-led work was central to the project, with core team member Sylvia Kokunda serving as first author on a research paper examining the forced eviction of Indigenous Peoples under the guise of ‘conservation’ efforts. The project also supported the creation of the Ogiek Cultural Centre in Narok County, Kenya – a space dedicated to preserving cultural heritage and fostering community engagement.

LBE’s work also enabled the Hub to award several discretionary grants, including one to the Ogiek People’s Development Programme to explore intergenerational storytelling and traditional Indigenous knowledges. Another grant supported human rights NGO Minority Rights Group International (MRG), working alongside Indigenous-led organisations in Kenya’s Rift Valley, to research how changes in freshwater systems are affecting the culture and health of communities living along the shores of Lake Bogoria and Lake Turkana.

The Hubs

Land Body Ecologies is anchored by Invisible Flock (UK), Minority Rights Group (UK), Action for Batwa Empowerment Group (Uganda), Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (Kenya), Quicksand (India), University of Oulu (Finland), Lazy Man Coffee (Thailand) and independent artist Jenni Laiti (Sápmi).

List of Hubs:

  • London Hub (United Kingdom): anchored by Invisible Flock and Minority Rights Group International.
  • Bwindi Hub (Uganda): anchored by Action for Batwa Empowerment Group.
  • Mau Forest Hub (Kenya): anchored by Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program.
  • Bannerghatta Hub (India): anchored by Quicksand.
  • Arctic Hub (Finland): anchored by Outi Autti (Giellagas Institute, University of Oulu).
  • Ban Nong Tao Hub (Thailand): anchored by Lazy Man Coffee, founded by Siwakorn Odochao.
  • Sámi Hub (Sápmi): anchored by Jenni Laiti (Sápmi-based).

The Hub leads

Victoria Pratt

Victoria is a multi-award-winning artist and co-founder and Creative Director of Invisible Flock, creating work through developing and leading research processes and long-term collaborations, often taking the form of installations where human and planetary health meet.

Babitha George and Romit Raj

Babitha and Romit are from Quicksand, an interdisciplinary design research and innovation practice based in India, driven by an approach that seeks to build on a rich, evocative understanding of people and environments through participatory research and co-design.

Daniel Kobei

Daniel is the founder and Executive Director of Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program, a non-governmental organisation based in Kenya that promotes the human and land rights of the Indigenous Ogiek.

Jenni Laiti

Jenni is a Sámi artivist, Duojár (master of traditional Sámi crafts), Indigenous rights activist and climate justice advocate.

Outi Autti

Outi is a sociologist and researcher at Giellagas Institute, University of Oulu. Outi specialises in multidisciplinary research in the fields of environmental sociology, migration studies, rural education and human geography.

Samrawit Gougsa

Samrawit is Head of Communications at Minority Rights Group International (MRG). MRG is an NGO focused on advocacy and human rights for ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, and Indigenous peoples globally. 

Siwakorn Odochao (Swae)

Swae is a Pgak’yau (Karen) farmer specialist in rotational farming, founder of Lazy Man Coffee and facilitator, from Ban Nong Tao, Northern Thailand.

Sylvia Kokunda

Sylvia is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Action for Batwa Empowerment Group in Uganda, a Batwa-led NGO supporting the Indigenous Batwa community. 

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