A low-pitched buzz from a concealed speaker by the entrance reverberated throughout the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, welcoming guests to the exhibition “Adaptation: A Reconnected Earth,” curated by the museum’s director Joselina Cruz and scholar James Tana. Visitors soon became accustomed to this sound emanating from four humanmade hives constructed from bamboo, coconut husks, and wood present throughout the gallery. Reminiscent of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1899–1900), Issay (2023), which comprises looped recordings of Philippine-native bees, provided a sonic backdrop to the wide-open space, as their busy humming seemed to call forth an acknowledgement of an ancestral symbiosis with the natural environment.
