Migrant Journeys in Biodiversity and Conservation
January – July 2026, David Attenborough Building
Biodiversity thrives on diversity. Migrants have long played a visible and vital role in UK conservation and biodiversity efforts, yet their journeys remain largely untold. In recognition of this, ASCP is delighted to be working with John for his project Entanglement, celebrating the stories and experiences of migrants working in the UK’s biodiversity and conservation sector.
John Yayen is a Filipino nurse and contemporary artist who uses art to respond to and investigate migration, belonging, and resilience. As a migrant himself, his work draws inspiration from lived experiences and explores how we carry our identities when we are uprooted, and how we grow in the new soil we are transplanted to.
Working with colleagues across Cambridge Conservation Initiative in the David Attenborough Building, Yayen will be creating a new series of portraits which explores how migrants’ journeys, as well as their contributions and leadership, shape global biodiversity conservation. Through an open call, the artist has been meeting with and collaborating with international colleagues who were interested to share their journey through visual art and storytelling, and developing individual drawings which capture their stories, experiences, memories and personality. Collectively, this series of portraits aims to honour the lives and experiences of migrant conservation and biodiversity workers at CCI. The series will be on display in the David Attenborough Building from July.
John Yayen
John Yayen is a Filipino nurse and contemporary artist who uses art to respond to and investigate migration, belonging, and resilience. At the heart of his art lie the questions: What does it mean to belong? How do we redefine our identities when the definition of ‘home’ shifts? Through multi-media, and participatory and narrative-based approaches, Yayen invites us to pause and listen to each other, with the hope of fostering understanding. Now based in the UK, he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts, and he advocates for cross-sector collaboration and creative health as a driver of social change.
