Sustainable development explored at exhibition

When it comes to industrial pollution, extreme temperatures and melting glaciers, people tend to consider more carefully the concept of sustainable development.

However, for co-founder of the Business Ecology Studio, Sun Haiyan, and her team, such concept was rather new almost a decade ago.

"Sustainable Abundant," an exhibition featuring illustrations created by Swedish artist Magnus Valdemarsson and Chinese artist Dai Mouyu, plus short films on some sustainable projects by Sun and her team, is underway at APSMUSEUM through October 7.

Curated by Sun and co-hosted by the Art Pioneer Studio and L+Mall, the exhibition displays a systematic approach to more than 20 sustainable development topics.

For example, "The Song of Whales" by Valdemarsson is one of the highlights. The illustration shows the fact that a great whale can store an average of 33 metric tons of CO2 throughout its lifetime, which is the equivalent of the carbon absorption of 3,000 trees in one year. When the whale dies, it sinks to the bottom of the sea, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries.

Another highlight is "Rural: Urban Symbiosis: Farming and the 24 Solar Terms," created by Chinese artist Dai Mouyu.

The 24 solar terms demonstrate the wisdom of traditional farming in Chinese culture. These special terms remind the viewers of the cycle of nature, inspiring their thoughts on how to find solutions for rural-urban symbiosis in an urbanized era.

Sun launched China's first magazine that focuses on sustainability and green business in 2011.

The Business Ecology Studio is one of the first content production organizations in the area of the green economy in China, mainly working on producing a business report database, public communications and training programs.

She has worked with well-known brands and organizations, designing and producing workshops on sustainability. In addition, Sun also launched Sustainable Innovation Workshops and empowered different stakeholders to develop strategies relating to topics including climate change, the circular economy, social innovation, education equity, and sustainable villages.

As a public communications expert, Sun has curated more than 50 public exhibitions about sustainability, and produced several short films.

Q: Sustainable development is quite a "big word" for many people, so how did you come up with the idea to fuse this concept into readable illustrations?

Early in 2011, I started to use sustainability as the core of our new magazine. Frankly speaking, this concept was not as popular as right now.

Sustainability is not a "big word," and it is closely related to our ordinary life. You must hear about sustainable food or sustainable fashion, this could be one's choice of food and clothes that might have an impact on our environment.

I wanted to explain the concept to the public in an interesting way. For example, one illustration titled "Eco Tourism" depicts backpackers hiking in a forest with a bear walking behind. Both have their own world without disturbing each other. This is such a vivid scene – a respect for nature.

Q: You chose two artists, one from China and one from Sweden. Is it a special selection to reflect on the different thinking modes toward sustainable development between the East and West?

We are glad to work with artists from different backgrounds through a multi-cultural perspective. The results are interesting too. Both artists are showing their deep concerns about the challenges of sustainability. However, their approaches are different.

For example, Chinese artist Dai Mouyu tries to illustrate the concept via the expression of his inner peaceful feelings, while the Swedish artist reflects it in a humorous way.

Q: You have been engaged in the area for more than a decade, and it could be understood how tough the work was at the beginning. In your eyes, what is the most challenging and attractive part of it?

I think the most challenging part is the lack of support for the production of high-quality content on sustainability. It was extremely hard to get financial support for our magazine specialized in an unfamiliar topic 12 years ago.

However, it is also attractive. Fortunately, we made it and has become expert in this field. We receive trust from different partners. This exhibition is just a good example. We cooperated with APSMUSEUM together to render such a meaningful exhibition.

Q: Beside each of the illustrations is a written title and a small bilingual paragraph. How do you choose these titles among a variety of subjects of sustainable development?

These titles are all from our content production projects in the past years. In fact, we covered various aspects of sustainability with a journalism approach, and this exhibition only reflects part of them.

Q: Will such an exhibition become a series in the future?

Since 2011, our team has curated more than 50 exhibitions on sustainability. This is the first time we take on the topic from an art approach. We are planning a series of exhibitions together with APSMUSEUM. Art brings our imagination and reflection, which is critical for the promotion of sustainability to the public.

Q: When the global warming is taking place, the pollution of seawater is worsening, and wars are going on in parts of the world, what do you think of the future of the global environment?

That is not easy to answer.

I could only say that the situation is rather serious. Only if we have the courage to face it and work together, is there still hope, for us and our future generations.

Q: Obviously exhibitions are only part of your plan, what other activities will you and your team be holding?

A. We are working on content production and educational programs.

Exhibition info:

Dates: Through October 7 (closed on Mondays), 10am-10pm

Venue: APSMUSEUM of L+Mall

Address: 3/F, 899 Pudong Rd S.

浦东南路899号3楼