The Magic of Ochre: Reading the messages from Ochre Half-day Workshop

Ochre is humanity’s oldest paint – a material that has bridged the physical and spiritual worlds for millennia. Join our artist-in-residence Hanien Conradie for a transformative 3 hour workshop that explores the ancient language of the soil.

In The Magic of Ochre, we delve into the ritualistic and traditional uses of this sacred earth pigment. This session offers a rare cross-cultural dialogue, as Hanien compares ochre gathered from the African landscapes of Botswana and Cape Town with local Asian earth pigments. Participants will witness the alchemy of turning raw earth into paint and engage in a visceral "imprint making" process, leaving their own mark on paper just as our ancestors left theirs on stone.

This workshop forms an integral extension of This Earth. This Water., offering participants a hands-on encounter with the same natural materials, processes, and philosophies that shape Hanien Conradie’s artworks within the ARTIST‑IN‑RESIDENCE PROGRAMME 2026–2027.

About Artist-in-Residence

Hanien Conradie

Hanien Conradie is an earth artist known for her diverse land-based creative practice centred around “sense of place” and “belonging”. Her practices include landscape paintings in natural pigments, studies in ink on paper, ritualistic performances and meditative pieces in natural pigments – all related to special places she knows well. Hanien actively contributes to interdisciplinary symposiums, online organisations and artists’ residencies focused on ecological research through creative practice. She holds a master’s degree in Fine Art (specialising in painting and ecology), a degree in Architecture, and has taught at institutions such as the Michaelis School of Art (UCT) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Hanien has participated in numerous ecological exhibitions across southern Africa, Europe and the USA. Additionally, she conducts private workshops exploring new ways of relating to natural places, others and herself through creative practice.

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Event Details

Date

29 March 2026 (Sun)

Time

10:00am - 1:00pm

Venue

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden

Language

English

Target Audience

Aged 16 years or above

Capacity

8-20 people 

Fee

HK$480

Application

Please CLICK HERE to submit your online application one day before the event date. 

Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Enquires

Ms Alice Lam at 2483 7276 or email alice.lam@kfbg.org in office hours Related Links

• Kadoorie Earth Programme (KEP) is an initiative co-created by KFBG and its network of collaborators and volunteers. By integrating the various strands of KFBG’s nature conservation, sustainable living and holistic education programmes, it provides life-transforming learning experiences that reconnect people with themselves, each other and the rest of nature and enable them to cultivate resilience in the face of global challenges.

  
  

• Nature Art Programmes: Immerse yourself in silent contemplation of nature. Deepen your awareness of beauty and connect with nature through art. KFBG organises a variety of art workshops including Zentangle drawing, sketching and wood art, and exhibitions to guide participants, with or without artistic background, to create nature art.

  
  

• Nature Education Programmes: Become animal detectives and explore the mysteries of wild animals. Use different senses to discover the beauty of plants. Learn about the significance of forest, trees and even soils through field visits, experiments and woodwork, to reconnect with nature.

  
  

• Group Guided Tours: Led by trained environmental interpreters, the content includes experiential and hands-on activities. We encourage a passion for nature, conservation and ecology by nurturing an appreciation of the natural world.

  
  

• Corporate Programmes: Our Holistic Education Department staff can design either half-day or full-day nature education and art programmes for corporate staff or their family members based on specific needs. Leveraging the unique natural landscape and cultural ambiance of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, our activities may include guided tours, farm-to-table experiences, nature-based workshops, talks and art activities, aiming to promote understanding and practice of sustainable living for organisations.