Movie Details
Original Language:English
Production Companies:NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore ThyssenBornemisza Art Contemporary TBA21
An Invocation to the Earth
16 min
Deep in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia a series of incantations invoke the spirits of yore including those of the nimble tricksy Kancil mousedeer and the ferocious Buaya crocodile The ancient animals enact their folkloric vendetta in a furious dance of dominance yet longoverdue vengeance is shrouded in smoke Meanwhile an effigy of a tree is burning summoning a whole other host of spectres and ancestors Conceived during the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival in 2019 while largescale fires were consuming the forests of Indonesia Yeo Siew Huas An Invocation to the Earth confronts climate collapse through the lens of precolonial folktales and animistic rituals Through spoken spells and bodily entanglements the video conjures up the fallen environmental defenders of a region ridden with ecological threats in the hope that their spirits will be reborn once again
