Artist Natalie Lo Lai Lai speaks to Tatler about the ecological concerns she explores through her work, and why she decided to become a part-time farmer
“I would never want to consider myself a successful person—I love failure too much,” says Hong Kong artist Natalie Lo Lai Lai. “It’s the best motivator to make you realise change needs to happen.” In the pursuit of change, Lo recommends failure, going slow and opening up to nature. “That’s where all possibility exists, and it’s when all the good ideas come out.” But while this may summarise Lo’s approach to life now, she only became fully aware of her need to take this when she started farming in 2010.
The artist left her full-time job as a travel writer in 2010 and joined the farming collective Sangwoodgoon, which loosely translates into “living hall”. The 15,000 sq ft organic farm is in Yuen Long, its conception a by-product of the 2008 anti-railway protests in the New Territories. Alongside a group of young activists and residents of Choi Yuen village in Kam Tin, Lo protested against the construction of the high-speed railway to mainland China, which required the destruction of the villagers’ homes and land, much of which was farmland.
After the protests failed to prevent the railway from going ahead, the group members decided to start Sangwoodgoon in an attempt to revive a rural lifestyle, find a slower, more community-minded way of living and help villagers become self-reliant. Their farming philosophy is rooted in permaculture, a holistic approach which focuses on allowing agricultural systems to operate in self-sufficient and sustainable ways. In practical terms, it entails planting and harvesting seasonal crops in rotation, composting and water conservation among other practices that allow for healthier and better-quality soil, reduced wastage and less environmental damage. They grow vegetables, fruits and rice, which they then eat or sell. In 2018, the collective set up an education centre, built on a rented piece of land next to the farm to serve younger generations. “We want to teach families and especially children about farming,” says Lo. “It’s really about nourishing them [the kids] and teaching them how to nourish nature.”