Ben Horrigan, Managing Director of Stockport and Manchester based Studio 91 Media, has joined forces with other filmmakers and poets from both the UK and Malaysia for a project celebrating the two countries’ peat bogs.
To mark World Peatlands Day on 2nd June, Malaysia-based Factual TV and Studio 91 Media have shared details of their thought-provoking new series of poems and spoken word films. Funded by a prestigious Connections Through Culture grant from the British Council, The Peat on Earth project seeks to challenge misconceptions about peatland habitats and encourage people to think about these vital ecosystems in a fresh way.
At the heart of the British Council’s Connections Through Culture programme is a desire to encourage collaboration between British and Malaysian artists. For this project, emerging poets from Britain (Matt Sowerby) and Malaysia (Kimchi Lai) have teamed up with filmmakers in their respective countries (Ben Horrigan from UK-based Studio 91 Media, and Leong Hon Yuen from Malaysia’s Factual TV). They each spent two days in May immersed in local peatland habitats, and are now working on the resulting 10 poems and spoken word films.
As you might imagine, peatland habitats in the UK (below, left) and Malaysia (right) are very different. Ben and Matt visited Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria, known for its nesting ospreys and wide open spaces. In Malaysia, Hon Yuen and Kimchi visited the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve known for its Selangor Pygmy Flying Squirrel (Petaurillus kinlochii) and the Emerald-spot Fighting Fish (Betta livida) within its wooded peat swamps.
Ben Horrigan, Managing Director of Studio 91 Media, said of participating in the project:
“We always want to produce films that challenge and inspire people, and that seek to make the world a better place, which is why we feel so honoured and grateful to be involved in this project. Thanks to the British Council, we’re collaborating with a team on the other side of the world to showcase one of nature’s true underdogs: the humble peat bog. Its inherent beauty, its wondrous biodiversity and why it just might save us all.”
The poems and films will be showcased beginning in August 2025, with exhibitions in the two countries as well as a website.
The UK exhibition showcasing the work will take place on September 20th–21st at Manchester Museum’s Top Floor environmental action hub. All the exhibitions are free admission and open to the public.
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