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An Invocation to the Earth (2020)
Directed by Yeo Siew Hua
· 16m
Deep in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, a series of incantations invoke the spirits of yore, including those of the nimble, tricksy Kancil (mouse-deer) and the ferocious Buaya (crocodile). The ancient animals enact their folkloric vendetta in a furious dance of dominance, yet long-overdue 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 large-scale fires were consuming the forests of Indonesia, Yeo Siew Hua’s An Invocation to the Earth confronts climate collapse through the lens of pre-colonial 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.
Cast
K. Rajagopal
Crew
- Director
- Yeo Siew Hua
- Writer
- Yeo Siew Hua
- Director of Photography
- Russell Adam Morton
- Editor
- Daniel Hui
Details
- Release date
- 2020-09-29
- Runtime
- 16m
- Original language
- EN
- Production
- NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (TBA21)