Rediscovering Lost Connections :
Silvana S. Foundation Commission Award Exhibition, first edition

Jan 18 – 24 2022

Rediscovering Lost Connections: Silvana S. Foundation Commission Award Exhibition, first edition is a joint presentation of the work of two artists, Robert Zhao Renhui and the late Silvana Sutanto. Zhao was the winner of the inaugural Silvana S Foundation Commission Award in 2020, organized by the foundation in collaboration with the Singapore International Photography Festival. The prize was themed around “Rediscovering Lost Connections”, and Zhao won for his proposed series, And A Great Sign Appeared, which looks at the effects of urbanization on the natural ecosystem, particularly avian colonies in Singapore. His work is presented alongside that of the late Silvana Sutanto. Here, Indonesian-born photographer Sutanto’s images of animal populations, anthropocenic landscapes and celestial phenomena, stand as representations of her lifelong commitment to her practice, and her chosen subject matter – the role of our natural environment. In juxtaposing the work of two artists deeply engaged with the ecological space that mankind inhabits, this exhibition celebrates the interconnectedness of humanity and its environment, and the future of both on the planet that we call home.

The proceeds from this exhibition will go towards the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation.

About The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation

Since its inception in 1991, The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation has grown from an informal movement to a well-known conservation organisation that has consistently and tirelessly worked on the frontlines to make a difference for Asia’s only species of great ape. Over the years, a team of experts in orangutan welfare, health, management, and conservation has been protecting orangutans and their habitats by rescuing them from areas of human-wildlife conflict, providing sanctuary for rehabilitation, and reintroducing them in wild forests, as well as conserving tropical ecosystems. This has been made possible only by teaming up with local communities, like-minded NGOs, government agencies, and concerned businesses.

Today, the BOS Foundation takes care of about 450 of these incredible beings across their two rehabilitation centres, making it the largest orangutan welfare and conservation program in the world. However, this is also a heartbreaking reminder of the huge scale of the challenges faced today, from development and deforestation to hunting and the illegal pet trade, if the orangutan is to be saved from extinction.

Learn more at www.orangutan.or.id

About The Selection Process

Shortlisted Candidates

Chow and Lin – Equivalence
Kathy Anne Lim – White Noise
Ko Myo – Myanmar’s Elephants Under Threat
Matjaz Tancic – From Mars to Earth
PHOTOGRAPHERHAL – Flesh Love All
Robert Zhao Renhui – The Lines We Draw
Seunggu Kim – Better Days
Yukiko Sugiyama – CRASH
Zana Briski – NOCTURNAL

Selection Panels

Piyatat Hemmatat (Thailand)
Katya Guerrero (Phillippines)
James Tan (Singapore)
Ihiro Ayami (Japan)
Seok Jae-hyun (South Korea)

About The Exhibition

Rediscovering Lost Connections by Silvana Sutanto

In these modern times, the world is becoming more interconnected than ever before. However, our busy lives cause us to lose the connections we have with our surrounding environment, be it the people around us, the natural environment, and other forms of life. The pandemic has forced us to pause our busy lives and rediscover how we are all connected to each other in one way or another, and one action will affect the environment as well as other forms of life around us. Rediscover our lost connections through photography, making people aware of the environmental, wildlife and humanitarian issues that affect us and our future generations.

The Polar Bear series highlights the importance of how connected we are with animals and the environment. With the ocean’s rising temperatures caused by climate change, scientists estimate that 10,000 cubic metres of ice per second is lost. With the rapidly melting ice caps, the natural environment of polar bears and other arctic animals is in danger of disappearing, leading to destabilisation of the earth’s ecosystems, as well as rising sea levels.

Silvana also captures the beauty of our home planet at the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range, the Northern Lights in Alaska, and the beauty of the humpback whale, all highlighting the importance of realising how our human actions affect all life on earth, and the need to maintain the planet’s ecosystems so all life can coexist peacefully for our future generations.

And A Great Sign Appeared by Ian Teh

Non-human species have always co-existed with human beings, even in highly urbanised areas. During the Covid-19 health crisis, when travel was limited, I started to look more closely at my everyday surroundings and became more sensitive to the proximity of non-human neighbours in the middle of built-up Singapore. This exhibition captures the dramatic and mundane encounters I had with the natural world during this time, and reflects the myriad connections between people, regions and wildlife across time and space.

Even as Covid-19 dominates news coverage, the climate crisis continues inexorably. Climate-driven range shifts for species have become a reality, and in Singapore, there was a dramatic example of this on Dec 22 2019, when thousands of Asian openbill storks suddenly appeared in Singapore. Hailing from the northern parts of Southeast Asia, probably Thailand, they flew around Singapore for a week looking for a space to stay, but were unsuccessful and left. Thailand had been in the grip of an unseasonable drought, and the birds were looking for a more hospitable environment in which to live. Their appearance in Singapore reminds us that our region is connected ecologically, and that climate change has a transnational impact.

Another visitation happened on 5 June, 2020 – World Environment day, ironically – when a large colony of 100 flying foxes was seen flying over Singapore’s central catchment area. They stayed for about a week. The large bats could have flown to Singapore due to a disturbance to their habitats in neighbouring countries, probably Indonesia or Malaysia, from deforestation. This was a significant ecological event because flying foxes are extinct in Singapore, and the last time they were spotted here was in 2016.

Not all visitors were welcome, however. Around November 2020, barn swallows migrating through Singapore took up residence in a HDB block in Pasir Ris, occupying the ledges, corridors and rooftops. As the birds numbered in the thousands, some residents were distressed during this time. The birds stayed until March 2021 and left.

Other than these visitors from abroad, I was also interested in a sense of everyday neighbourliness we had with non-human species. At 7 p.m. sharp every evening, a single tree in a Choa Chu Kang HDB estate becomes alive with hundreds of long-tailed parakeets returning to their roost after a whole day of foraging. Nobody knows exactly why they are attracted to this tree and congregate there in such large numbers. The birds fly in big groups and chitter at a high volume, but the spectacle is over in less than 10 minutes as the parakeets settle in for the night. It is so subtle that most people would not notice the birds’ daily flight out if they were not paying attention — but if there was one luxury that the COVID-19 pandemic gave me, it was the time to do this.

Robert Zhao Dec 2021