Kudzu Whispers explores the entanglement between human and non-human entities through the migration story of the Chinese Kudzu vine plant. Long-used in traditional Chinese medicine, Kudzu was introduced to the West in the early twentieth-century for farming uses, and later considered an invasive species to be controlled.

In this work, Dongni blends elements of speculative fiction, archival footage and computer generated imagery to reimagine the Kudzu plant’s migration story within the Stanley Dock area of Liverpool, an important site for trading during the British Empire.

The work reflects on the responses and rebellions of natural ecosystems alongside the construction of urban landscapes, and how these often go beyond human control. By imagining the Kudzu plant growing in Liverpool’s North docks and abandoned factories, Dongni asks us to consider the closely intertwined relationship between the natural and human environment, and to rethink power dynamics between humans and non-humans when it comes to movement and migration.