This week I give way to an amazing young lady, Renee Nuevo, a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila and a prolific writer who covers art, pop culture and entertainment. She shares with us her piece on the International Art Biennale that will be held in Ibaan, Batangas, an art exhibit open to the public that dwells on the beauty of trees in a fast evolving digital world.

An International Art Biennale for the Trees, Rooted in Place and Connected Worldwide

By Renée Nuevo

In the last twenty years or so, the human race began living in two worlds. There’s the physical world, where we eat, work, laugh with family and friends, see the sun, and swim in the ocean. Then there’s the digital world, a world where its inhabitants are called netizens and public discourse plays out in the comments section of a Facebook post.

The digital world, for a time, was a new frontier. The installation of the internet in a regular person’s home promised connection and globalization. Email meant we could talk to our loved ones on the other side of the world easier than ever before. Emails became instant messages, instant messages became social media. Today, the state of the World Wide Web isn’t the same as it was when it began.

What has it done to society?

It has fragmented us, created a disconnect, sown distrust, hatred, anger. The algorithm has created the illusion that whatever you see on the screen in your hands is the entire world, limiting our ways of thinking and dehumanizing the suffering we witness through our phones. It has tricked us into thinking that the world is small and ugly.

Except that it’s not.

In fact, the world is vast and beautiful. But this beauty is under attack. Wars continue to ravage countries and tear families apart; genocides continue to erase entire bloodlines. We are losing trees and animals; we are running out of water. The situation can often feel dire — and that is why hope, in any way we can get it, is important.

In 2024, the Center for Art, New Ventures, and Sustainable Development, or CANVAS, launched the first If Trees Could Talk International Art Biennale. Envisioned to be a cross-cultural art exhibition that aims to spark dialogue on environmental issues and serve as a catalyst for social transformation, the inaugural edition of the Biennale featured works by artists from the Philippines, Canada, and Germany, all answering the question — ”If trees could talk, what would they say?”

But the Biennale wasn’t just limited to the onsite installations; we also sent out a call for artists to answer the same question via postcard. We received around 100 postcards from Filipino artists all over the country. This year, we did it again, and this time, it resonated worldwide.

Now we have over 500 postcards from 60 countries across all continents. My email is filled with messages of gratitude and plain wonder for the movement the Biennale has started, the hope it has instilled in people’s hearts. On these postcards one will see the wide spectrum of human existence as it coincides with our natural world: trees, rivers, animals, living things that aren’t us.

Artists from Indonesia, for instance, share their experiences of living through the Great Sumatra Flood — rising waters caused by Cyclone Senyar that devastated the island of Sumatra in November 2025.

One will see images of children playing under the canopy of big, grand trees; images of women caring for the planet and those who live in it, reminding us how Mother Nature got her name.

There are postcards telling the stories of trees and the environment through the lens of labor; there are postcards from war-torn countries and from all over the Philippines. There are postcards illustrated by children; poems penned by artist-writers.

So despite all the destruction and suffering in the world, the postcard project has proven that the internet can still unite us — for hope, for love, for beauty, and for the earth’s trees, so long as it is used well, with good intentions, and considerate of the person right next to you.

The 2nd If Trees Could Talk International Art Biennale is on view at iftreescouldtalk.art until July 2026. The Biennale will open to the public on 14 to15 March 2026 at Tipon-Tipon sa Tumba-Tumba, a two-day community gathering and art fair at the Tumba-Tumba Children’s Museum of Philippine Art in Ibaan, Batangas. For more information, follow the Biennale on Facebook and Instagram @iftreescouldtalk.art.

Renée Nuevo is a writer who covers art, pop culture, and entertainment that explore the intersection of LGBTQ+ identity, social justice, and women’s rights. At present, she is the communications and social media manager of Marahuyo Art Projects and the If Trees Could Talk International Art Biennale. Get in touch with her at renee@canvas.ph.

Until next week… OBF!

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