For more information contact
Sukontip Nakasem
Warin Lab Contemporary
Tel: 083 095 2028
E-mail: info@warinlab.com
Tree Management Agency
Prateep Suthathongthai
Robert Zhao Renhui
Curated by John Tung
Warin Lab Contemporary
Feb. 3 – Mar. 23, 2024
“Tree Management Agency” brings together Prateep Suthathongthai and Robert Zhao Renhui in a duo exhibition that thinks deeply about the spaces of nature within the urban landscape.
In both Bangkok and Singapore, trees constitute a significant proportion of the urban greenery. Beyond the purported benefits these plants serve for the urban human population – such as beautifying the city, providing shade, purifying the air, amongst others – they are simultaneously habitation for an array of “wildlife” that has since become naturalised within the concrete jungle.
Yet policies pertaining to the governance and management of trees are largely predicated on anthropocentric sentiments. With both policy formulation and remediation being oriented towards people, what spaces remain within the urban environment for nature to manifest its will? What would it look like?
The two artists, a Thai and Singaporean respectively, have been long time admirers of each other’s practice, despite hailing from different countries within Southeast Asia. Presenting a new body of photographic and video works predicated on research, the exhibition seeks to delves into the matter of tree transplantation, and the greening of urban areas. The exhibition prompts recognition and new approaches towards stewardship of shared green spaces.
The exhibition will open on Saturday February 3, 2024. There will be an educational program at 15.-00 – 16.00 hrs. at Warin Lab Contemporary to raise awareness about big tree transplanting by the following panelists:
- Dr.Boripat Siriaroonrat, President of Green World Organization
- Oraya Sutabutr, Co-Founder of Big Trees Project Foundation
- Prateep Suthathongthai, Artist
- Robert Zhao Renhui, Artist
- Sukontip Nakasem, Founder of Warin Lab Contemporary
The exhibition will be on display until March 23, 2024 at Warin Lab Contemporary located at OP Garden, 4 Charoenkrung Road soi 36, Bangrak, Bangkok. Opening hours: 10.30 – 19.30 hrs.
Artwork Description:
- Title: UPROOT, 2024
Artist: Prateep Suthathongthai
Medium: Giclee print on paper mounted on aluminum board
Dimension: 90 x 135cm
“UPROOT” encapsulates the poignant intersection of commerce, culture, and conservation in the tree transplantation industry. The series of works illuminates the nocturnal preparations for transplantation, focusing on the root-guiding light setups that prime the trees for transport, reflecting on their resilience in the face of human intervention. Capturing the trees in their native soil, framed by the GPS coordinates that bear witness to their original narrative in the landscape, these images symbolize a final remembrance before the trees’ displacement.
- Title: The 19, 2024
Artist: Robert Zhao Renhui
Medium: Print on paper mounted on aluminum board
Dimension: 100 x 100cm, 50 x 50cm, and 40 x 40 cm
“The 19” captures the unsettling narrative of ecological displacement in an ever-urbanizing world. In 2014, the artist spent an extensive amount of time observing a banyan tree over many nights, then documenting the existence of 19 bird species he counted through the impartial eye of camera traps. The tree’s transplantation—and the stark absence of its avian residents thereafter—speaks to the silent yet profound upheaval imposed by human development. This work explores nature’s malleability under the human hand, bringing into focus the resilience and vulnerability of living ecosystems.
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