This project seeks to initiate
what is hoped will be an ongoing dialogue between environmentalists, animal
groups, artists, theorists and interested publics about the ways in which
human-animal relationships are imagined, represented and performed in the
region
Visual Art Show: Regional Animalities
Sleeping Dogs Lie on The Causeway, Chickzilla the Mutant Battery Chick,
Women and Apes in Trees on Hills, Performative and Philosophical Meetings with
Our Meat, Hairy Virgins, Furry Landscapes, Interrogatory Insects, A Conference
of Birds, Elephants in Exile and Dancing on Egg Shells in The Jungles of our
Dreams.
Artists from Singapore and Malaysia have been invited to explore various
aspects of human-animal relationships for this show, which spans the month of
September. Alongside raising awareness for particular animal and conservation
issues, the works explore ways in which animals provide raw materials for our
symbolic order, our dreams and urban imagination-putting pressure on the
boundaries between animals and humans.
Part I: The Substation Gallery (Zai Kuning & Yuen Chee Wai) 1-5 September
11am - 9pm daily
Part II: The Substation Gallery, Blue Room and Garden 11-26 September 11am -
9pm daily
Participating Artists:
Chang Yoong Chia, Tian Chua, Paul Lincoln, Annette Notfors, Colin Reaney,
Rizman Putra, Teresa Teo Guttensohn, Andree Weschler, Joshua Yang, Yuen Chee
Wai & Zai Kuning.
Some Highlights:
Teresa Teo Guttensohn will conduct a durational performance where she will
nest for an extended period of time in a tree in The Substation Garden. Her
performance draws upon mythological tropes of Women & Apes, including the
contemporary icons Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas - the
anthropologist Dr Louis Leakey's "Angels" - while highlighting the nest
building practice of our region's last great ape--the Orang Utan.
Tian Chua presents a meticulous diary of his relationships with insects,
compiled during a more involuntary period of contemplation. Chua's Malaysian,
"field diary" also recalls the often violent dissection of Natural History
under the Colonial gaze.
Zai Kuning and Yuen Chee Wai will conduct a five day, video, sound,
performance and philosophical exploration into our everyday relationships with
meat and the killing of animals for food.
Joshua Yang has constructed a
contemporary fable creature-a human-sized mutant called Chick-Zilla, who
surveys and processes the comings and goings of the world with nodding wisdom.
Exhibition Details:
Venue: The Substation Gallery, Blue Room and Garden
Dates and Time: 1 - 5 September,
11-26 September, 11am-9pm
Official Opening 7pm, 11 September
Free Admission
Humanimal Forum & Fair
Saturday, 11 September 2004
A second part of the Artists & Other Animals project is a Humanimal
Forum & Fair. Conservation, Environmental, Animal Welfare organisations and
artists dealing with Animal-Human interactions from Singapore, Malaysia and
Indonesia will be taking part in this fair and a three-session forum.
Humanimal Forum
Join a lively dialogue with over twenty invited scientists, artists,
academics, activists, TV & media workers & public personalities in discussion
of: Captive Animals, Captive Audiences & Captive Imaginations -
Human-Animal relationships in Singapore & Southeast Asia.
Participants include: Alfian bin Sa'at, Playwright, Poet; AnimalWatch
Singapore; Vincent Chow, Johor National Parks Corp; Lucy Davis, Editor, focas;
Chris Dickinson, Wildlife Asia Film Festival; Dr Ken Gold, Singapore Zoo;
Hardi Baktiantoro, Profauna, Jakarta; Bernard Harrison, Bernard Harrison &
Friends; Angela Hijjas, Trustee, WWF/ Nature Society Malaysia; Dr Ho Hua Chew,
Singapore Nature Society; Ho Tzu Nyen, Visual Artist; Dr George Jacobs,
Vegetarian Society; Dawn Kua, Cat Welfare Society; Lee Weng Choy, The
Substation; Dr Lou Ek Hee, AVA Singapore; Deirdre Moss, SPCA; Karen Ann
Niedermeyer, P.A.W. Global Concerns Group UWCSEA; Louis Ng, ACRES; Grant
Pereira, Sea Shepherd; Juggi Ramakrishnan, Saatchi & Saatchi; N. Sivasothi,
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, NUS; Sharon Siddique, Sociologist;
Video by Victor Wu, WildAid.
Event Details:
Venue: The Substation Guinness Theatre
Date and Time: Saturday 11 September 10am - 6pm
Free Admission
Humanimal Fair & Small Animal Adoption Drive
Hang out in The Substation Garden with animal and conservation
organisations. Adopt a puppy, kitten or rabbit. Find out more about
conservation and environmental concerns. Chill to music by Zai Kuning, EMOT,
Yee Chang Kang and UBlues. Catch a Celebrity Talk Show on Artists & Other
Animals and the launch of Teresa Teo Guttensohn's durational tree-dwelling,
orang utan nest-building performance; Bid for one of Rizman Putra's funky
animal chairs, auctioned by Beatrice Chia & Bernard Harrison; Race toy robot
elephants in aid of a Malaysian Elephant charity. Grab armbands with elephant
totems designed by Colin Reaney. Don a temporary animal tattoo designed by
infamous Primitive Arts tattoo artists. Join the Opening Party of the
Regional Animalities Art Show Part 2, which will close the day's events.
Event Details:
Venue: The Substation Garden
Date and Time: 11 September 3pm-7pm
Free Admission