Gallery Entry
The Symbiotic Archipelago
By Ho Tung Cheng · HK
The Symbiotic Archipelago imagines small garden communities linked by glowing paths around a shared central island. Each island has homes, plants and water, while the connections suggest that autonomy and cooperation can strengthen one another. The tree at the centre symbolizes shared knowledge and the possibility of growth. The image comes from my own writing about food systems and the kind of community I hope to help build. After years working in the food industry, I returned to study food, health and business management. I am interested in how people might make some of their food systems more resilient while choosing to share skills and care. This is an imagined possibility, not a picture of a place I have built or a claim that such a system is self-sufficient. Its most human element is the choice to connect: the islands can stand apart, yet the paths allow people to meet.