AAIS Alumni Series: Picnic

An experimental performance with tabletop miniatures, live camera, projection and live music, exploring the stories we tell about the nature

The Picnic is an ongoing performance project unfolding through a series of distinct but connected chapters, each exploring different relationships between bodies, objects, environments and live media.

Chapter 4

Through colonial-era animal collecting, journeys across continents, scientific naming, near extinction, conservation breeding, and an eventual return to its homeland, humanity has constructed a grand historical narrative around the milu deer.

Yet, perhaps all it ever wanted was to graze.

The Picnic was originally commissioned by Stanley Arts for the 2026 Commons Festival. The Picnic continues and expands upon this work, exploring new possibilities through performance, objects, and live media.

‍

Creative Team

Director: Portia Yuran Li
Scenographer & Technical Designer: Effie Gu
Live Music: Mingyu Ding
Cinematographer: Leo Zhu

‍

About Nomadic Field

Nomadic Field is a UK-based, Asian immigrant-led devising ensemble working across object theatre, puppetry, scenography, and live media.

Drawing loosely on Walter Benjamin's idea of the constellation, we approach performance as a temporary gathering of fragments — people, objects, images, technologies, and diasporic memories — that form new relationships before dispersing again.

We describe this practice as “nomading between the physical and digital realms.”

Presented as part of the AAIS Alumni Event.

‍

Friday 30 October 2026 | 7:00–7:30 pm

Running time: 30 minutes

AAIS Studio, Architectural Association

36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES

Please enter through 36 Bedford Square and ask for the AAIS Studio at reception.

‍

‍