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Chapter Gallery | Wales
28th April 2012
Blind Long-tailed Owl, Desert Variant of Little Owl from the series, As Walked on Water, 2011
Installation of vinyl print, 280cm x 194cm
The Institute of Critical Zoologists
Friday 27 April — Sunday 17 June 2012
Chapter Arts Center
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
"The Blind Long-tailed Owl (2011), ‘watches’ over us at both the beginning and end of the exhibition - This owl has evolved a sight-sheltering plumage to cope with the desert conditions it has been forced into, due to de-forestation. This bird becomes a totem; it’s visual impairment /adaptation alludes to the limitations of the human regard for animals and suggests a change of perspective and abandoning of our assumptions about reality." (..more)
Chapter Gallery has worked in collaboration with the The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ) to present its first UK survey exhibition that interrogates the boundaries between the seen and the unseen. exploring methods of allegorical representation and interpretation. This exhibition brings together commissioned projects by Zhao Renhui (an artist who works closely with the ICZ) and extracts from the Institute’s museum collection.
In March 2012, Zhao Renhui undertook a residency at the National Museum Cardiff that has informed part of the research for this exhibition. An installation by the artist is open in the Natural History Galleries at the Museum between 13 March and 17 June 2012. This exhibition is curated by Lauren Jury and Helen Warburton.
For more information about the exhibition, press images or to arrange an interview with the artist please contact Lauren Jury on 029 2031 1050 or email visual.arts@chapter.org
With assistance from Coutts Charitable Trust
Supported by The Singapore International Foundation
Gallery open:
Tuesday — Saturday 10am–8pm
Sunday 2pm–8pm
Closed Monday
Admission free Chapter Gallery, Chapter, Market Road, Cardiff CF5 1QE,
UK +44 (0)29 2031 1050
Some Kind Of Expedition
4th Jan 2012
Expedition #10, From the series The Glacier Study Group (criticalzoologists.org/gsg)
121cm x 84cm, Archival Piezographic Print
Renhui Zhao
Some Kind Of Expedition
Presented by 2902 Gallery
Art Stage, Booth B1-08
12th-15th Jan. 2012
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
"The search for wildlife is also the search for authenticity and for the truth. It can be religious. We constantly
seek to impose meaning onto our relationship to the natural world." Zhao Renhui & Satoshi Kataoka (..more)
Working closely with The Institute of Critical Zoologists for the last five years, Zhao Renhui has been cataloguing,
classifying and creating photographs and objects around the scientific institution.
www.criticalzoologists.org/expedition
Zhao Renhui will also be presenting To be washed ashore on a deserted island with an animal on the horizon in the Singapore Showcase at Art Stage (Booth C7-01) in an exhibition curated by Dr. Charles Merewether , Island Allegories. A selection of some of The Institute of Critical Zoologists's projects carried out in Singapore between 2002-2011 will be presented in the exhibition. (..more)
www.criticalzoologists.org/horizon
Catalogue
A limited edition catalogue will also be available during the opening of the exhibition.
Essay by Zhao Renhui and Satoshi Kataoka.
The catalogue includes a special reprinted poster of important landmarked expeditions by the ICZ since 2001.
To order a copy please contact info@criticalzoologists.org with the subject header "Some Kind Of Expedition Catalogue"
Retail Price : £25 (Before Shipping)
SBN: 978-981-07-1212-9
Event
Supported By
The National Arts Council Singapore
A realised dream, Experiment #2, 2011
A Bird In The Hand
3rd July 2011
Minute Owl, from the series, Pulau Pejantan, 2009
121cm x 84cm, Archival Piezographic Print
Renhui Zhao
A Bird in the Hand
14 July – 3 September 2011
Private view 13 July 2011 (Wednesday), 6 – 8pm
Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, 272 High Holborn, WC1V 7EY
"The work to follow is an exploration of these complexities and reminds us that birds occupy a large and central part of that universe that human beings constantly carve out of nature." Ding Li
“In contemporary society birds are, perhaps, both the most watched and most eaten animal on our planet. They have become a focal point of debates about a 'proper' relationship between humankind and nature, and about definitions of humanity itself.” Naoko Noguchi
Against the very real environmental drama unfolding across the globe, multidisciplinary artist Renhui Zhao presents the exhibition A Bird in the Hand. The exhibition invites viewers to step into the The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ), a multilayered conceit that operates across an array of levels
Opening at the Arts Gallery on 14 July, the show is presented from the perspective of the ICZ and its team of scientists who pose the question: what is our relationship with nature?
Zhao creates elaborate scenarios or alternate realities to interrogate questions of art and artifice, credence and fantasy, and the borders of reality. Offering a retrospective of the Institute’s research, the show features a display of genuine artifacts with a collection of photographs from the ICZ.
"How do we celebrate 150 years of birdwatching?" Kimiya Yui
On show will be compelling objects and photographs from The ICZ’s extensive global research, including rare taxidermy birds from a species which have evolved to permanently close their eyes to protect them from the dust of drying landscapes, and The Institute’s own revolutionary “invisible” camouflage cloaks for watching animals.
The exhibition will also reveal artefacts from the Institute’s Tokyo museum including indigenous Philippine bird traps and documents of “miraculous” eggshells containing baby fish, alongside revelatory items from the Institute’s archive of wildlife smuggling methods in the form of specially designed smuggling undergarments retrieved by customs.
www.criticalzoologists.org/abirdinthehand
Catalogue
A limited edition catalogue will also be available during the opening of the exhibition.
Essays by Naoko Noguchi, Director of Social Programs, Ding Li, Expert in Bird Ecology and Kimiya Yui.
The catalogue includes a special reprinted poster of Norishige Kanai's celebrated 'Looking at birds' (1957).
To order a copy please contact info@criticalzoologists.org with the subject header "A Bird In The Hand Catologue"
Supported By
Cat. 4
Variant #7, 2011
A heartwarming feeling
20th November 2010
#121, after 321 days, Pin-hole camera by Okuro Oikawa.
Actual size : 1.1cmx 0.7cm
"On January 2008, I collaborated with the Yamshina Institute for Ornithology (a regional expert in bird banding) in an attempt to document this phenomenon during an artist residency. A group of a few thousand migratory birds were banded by the Institute over the course of two months. Besides banding the birds with a metal band on their legs, I included a small pin-hole camera near each band. Inside each camera was a very small sheet of positive photographic paper of extremely low sensitivity. The pin-hole exposed the image directly onto the paper, and allows for a positive image to be formed as long as there was light going through the pin-hole. The thousands of little pin-hole cameras were made with the help of a group of local school children.
On June 2010, 50 of the birds were dead found in the Arctic Circle. 30 of the birds still had their cameras intact and 12 of the cameras actually created an image of the bird's rather confused migratory journey to the Arctic. "
Zhao Renhui on A heartwarming feeling
Climate change has significant impact on birds. It can alter distribution, abundance and behavior. It can also affect events like bird migration.
Migration times are shifting and birds which are slow to change fail to migrate altogether.
We still know very little of how birds navigate and migrate over long distances. A recent phenomenon in the Arctic Circle is the emergence of mass bird graves. It seems as if different species of migrating birds due for the south has been flying the opposite direction, in an apparent act of suicide. Very little research has been done on this phenomenon.
Scientists argue that global warming might be a cause of this but has yet to show evidence of how this might be linked. One popular theory says that the melting of the ice caps might have affected the earth's magnetic field, something which the birds might have been using for navigation. Many critics dispute this claim and scientists are still looking for an explanation for this phenomenon.
www.criticalzoologists.org/heartwarming
#243, after 321 days.
A bird that was carrying a small pin-hole camera (1.21cm x 0.7cm) made by Tomimaru Okuni tied to its feet while the bird was in Japan. The bird and the camera were later retrieved from the Arctic Circlc after 321 days.
The whiteness of a whale
3rd October 2010
The white whale swimming in the ocean depths off the coast of Omishima, circa 1985
This is thought to be the only existing image of the white whale, a mysterious creature that had once held the Japanese village of Omishima in thrall. One of the oldest villagers alive, a man called Mr Kazuhiro Nagashima, said that his people had once placed an effigy of the whale in the sea off the coast of Omishima, and it probably still remains there today.
All the Antarctic Minke Whales in the world in 1984
400,500 photographs.15 x 10cm, white table.
The title of this project is taken from an earlier work undertaken by Satoshi Kataoka to research and compile the numerous white whale sightings by The Whale People of Omishima between 1937 to 2008.
During a residency at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Zhao Renhui was able to research the archives and interview the last remaining descendant of The Whale People. During the residency, he produced a series of documents and images for The Institute of Critical Zoologists discussing the political and cultural representations of this group of people.
This project is a compilation of their research, documents and interviews, produced in collaboration with The Institute of Critical Zoologists. It offers a unique perspective into the unwritten history of The Whale People of Omishima.
A booklet has also been produced for the project and is available through our website.
For more details, please email info@criticalzoologists.org.
www.criticalzoologists.org/whiteness
The 26th Phylliidae Convention, Tokyo
9th September 2010
Hiroshi Abe at the 8th Phylliidae Convention with Phyllium S. when he first entered the competition in 1991.
A special edition of the Phylliidae Study Journal has been created for last year's Phylliidae Convention.
Selected articles are available for viewing.
The Phylliidae Study Group from The Institute of Critical Zoologists has been studying camouflage insects for more than 50 years. The group holds regular meetings and presents displays at all the major entomological exhibitions in the world. The organisation places emphasis on study by rearing and captive breeding and has a panel of breeders who distribute livestock of different cultures to other members.
www.criticalzoologists.org/psg
A Living Leaf - ‘As the wind travels through the foliage, the leaves move to their own life.’
Japanese daguerreotype, 1861, 12.9cm x 18.9cm. Meiji Era.
Collection of the Royal family, and now in the Royal Science Museum in Kobe, Japan.
Masahiro Koishikawa proposes that this Japanese daguerreotype (an old photograph) from 1861 is one of the very first depictions of a leaf insect in the modern world.
Matsuo Sugano presents Gather
3rd August 2010
Fish in eggs, Small pond in French Alps, 2006, Matsura. A
In 2006, Zhao Renhui and Matsuo Sugano embarked on a project to work with the archives of the Institute of Critical Zoologists. During the project, Matsuo Sugano kept an online journal of his experience while working with the ICZ's archive. A selection of which has been made available here.
Gather is a two year collaboration project between Zhao Renhui and Matsuo Sugano.
www.criticalzoologists.org/gather
The Institute of Critical Zoologists presents The whiteness of a whale
21st July 2010
The white whale swimming in the ocean depths off the coast of Omishima, circa 1985
152x110cm
Archival Piezographic Print on Aluminium
This is thought to be the only existing image of the white whale, a mysterious creature that had once held the Japanese village of Omishima in thrall. One of the oldest villagers alive, a man called Mr Kazuhiro Nagashima, said that his people had once placed an effigy of the whale in the sea off the coast of Omishima, and it probably still remains there today.
Zhao Renhui & Satoshi Kataoka
A project with The Institute of Critical Zoologists
About the exhibition
Residents of the Southern Japanese seaside village Omishima are often called “The Whale People”, or kujira no hitobito, people who live among whales. They got their name because of their obsessive and bizarre worship of whales and all things whale-related.
In 1937, something happened that seized the entire village's imagination: a monk reported a sighting of a white whale along the village coast. Thus the search for the white whale began. The villagers raised funds to build a massive underwater tower in the middle of the ocean, which took more than ten years to complete. They had to cross a five-mile bridge on foot to reach the tower, all in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the white whale if returned.
In 1960, a boat with an iconic white whale’s tail was built to carry out more search expeditions for the
white whale. The boat had an underwater viewing chamber which, on a clear day, allowed the villagers
to see up to 5 miles through the ocean depths.
Today, few residents remember this way of life, although the watch tower and the boat are still around.
A few still continue the search for the white whale
Opening reception, 27 July 2010, Tuesday, 7pm
Jendela (Visual Arts Space) Level 2, Esplanade Mall, Singapore
Refreshments will be provided.
RSVP by 25 July 2010, Sun, to shihan@2902gallery.com or call 6339 8655
28 July 2010 - 1 Aug 2010 (Tue - Sun)
11am - 8.30pm (Mon - Fri)
10am - 8.30pm (Sat & Sun)
Jendela (Visual Arts Space)
Level 2, Esplanade Mall
1 Esplanade Drive
Singapore 038981
3 Aug 2010 - 22 Aug 2010
11am - 8pm (Tues - Sat)
1pm - 6pm (Sun)
Closed on Monday and Public Holidays
2902 Gallery
Old School, 11b Mount Sophia
#B2-09, Singapore 228466
All the Antarctic Minke Whales in the world in 1984, computer analytical image from Godvision II
152cm x 110cm in 24 parts
Archival Piezographic Print on Aluminium
Cetacean researchers are obsessed with the total global population of whales. Images from
expeditions are compiled and fed into a program called Godvision to calculate each
species’ population and distribution. In 1984, the program calculated the world’s population
of Antarctic Minke Whales to be 400,500.
Image courtesy of The Institute of Critical Zoologists
Temple of the whales #2, Omishima, 2005
121 cm x 84 cm
Archival Piezographic Print on Aluminium
The Institute of Critical Zoologists presents A Guide to the Common Flora and Fauna of the World
4th January 2010
Left : Australian Customs Service
Right : Artist's Book, A Guide To The Common Flora and Fauna of the World
“We have just successfully smuggled a very endangered gecko through the mail. Or almost.”
A Guide to the Common Flora and Fauna of the World is inspired by a real-life smuggling case where 15 endangered geckos were concealed in hollowed-out books and transported out of Australia, only to be intercepted by the country's customs. Using the mail route for smuggling has been one of the most effective and preferred methods to evade international customs, and wildlife activists have often criticised the loopholes in enforcement in this area.
For the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2010, The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ) sent similar books containing replicas of the gecko and apparatus giving the impression of hidden life within these packages, from various countries back to Singapore. Part of this exhibition showcases the returned contents and documentation of any procedures and correspondence pertaining to the “trafficking”. Through this, the Institute explores the human/animal relationship through wildlife trafficking, by actively engaging the laws prohibiting that in various countries.
Dr Yong's Archive
Between 1995 and 2006, Prof Yong worked at the ICZ as a curator of reptiles. His primary research area was in genomics and morphology genetics of reptiles. One of his greatest successes was the creation of ‘albino tortoises’. He often cited a 1981 National Geographic article as inspiration for his research. The article was about the first albino python which was successfully bred in Bangkok. The article also inspired many other people to collect and breed reptiles, thus giving birth to a new industry of reptile collection through out the world.
Prof Yong also became a legend in the wildlife smuggling circuit. During a routine archival digitization exercise, the ICZ discovered his archive of books, photographs, documents and research on wildlife smuggling. He had devised hundreds of ways to smuggle reptiles. To the most high-profile smugglers of the world, he was called the bookman, for his ingenious use of tomes to hide animals.
Our story of Dr. Yong's archive begins with the discovery of the world's largest encyclopedia, "A Guide To The Common Flora And Fauna Of The World" to be exhibited for the first time. Also in the exhibition are rare documentations and photographs of his experimentation in wildlife smuggling and his work on the genetic morphology of reptiles. Coinciding with the 14th anniversary of the ICZ, A Guide To The Common Flora And Fauna Of The World is an exhibition in the Jendela Gallery, Esplanade (Singapore) that explores a controversial chapter of the human/animal relationship.
A Guide to the Common Flora and Fauna of the World is presented and commissioned by M1 Singapore Fringe Festival Singapore 2010 & The Institute of Critical Zoologists, Japan.
Special thanks to Dr. Agata Marzec (Estonia), Tristan C (Finland), Dr. Jessica S.F (New York), Dr. Ferran Izquierdo (Barcelona), Ang S.N (London), Dr. Eiffel Chong T.Chin (Malaysia), Z.Y Wong (Beijing), Miriam Seto (Hong Kong), Dr. Agung Nugroho W (Yogyakarta), Dr. Nicholas W (Brisbane) & Zuzana Golierova (Bratislava) for their kind assistance and time for making this exhibition possible.
M1 Fringe Festival 2010, Art & The Law
7th - 24th January 2010
11am - 8.30pm (Mon - Fri)
10am - 8.30pm (Sat & Sun)
Esplanade - Jendela (Visual Arts Space) Singapore
Silent opening, Thursday, 7th Janaury, 7.30pm - 8.30pm.
Representatives from the institute will be present in the gallery during the silent opening.
Birds
121 cm x 84 cm
Archival Piezographic Print
Courtesy of The Institute of Critical Zoologists. (Dr. Yong's Archive)
52 cockatoo and macaw eggs
121 cm x 84 cm
Archival Piezographic Print
Courtesy of The Institute of Critical Zoologists. (Dr. Yong's Archive)
New discovery of New Island Species, Biodiversity, Sand dunes and a Black Geyser on Pulau Pejantan
17th October 2009
Wallace's Greater Black Cormorant Diving, 2009
Journey to Pulau Pejantan onboard Sea-Farer II, 11th January
Glow Worms, 2009
Day 120, Madura Forest, Weeping Tree.
Minute Owl, 2009
Day 61, Camera Trap No.168, Madura Forest
Pulau Pejantan is a remote island of Indonesia. Nick-named Sand Forest Island, Pulau Pejantan is a unique island with extremely unique geographical features and biodiversity. Virtually undiscovered till June 2005, the island boosts a treasure trove of unique species that is found no where else in the world such as the bizarre sand worms which moves about like packs of snakes around the island's dune to the Lantern Fish which greets you in the sea before you reach the island.
Isolated in the Pacific Ocean, about 70% of the estimated 600 species found on the island exist nowhere else on the globe. The island is home to such evolutionary oddities as the Ghost Hare, a black and white hound like animal, pale-white reptiles and birds which has adapted to the sand dunes and forest habitat, spiny burrowing ant-eaters, and the rock pheasant, a bird that lives in the sand dunes.
Long Tail Paradise Crow, 2009
Day 9, Setting up of Mist Net for specimen collection
Interview
Dr. Darrel Covman on The Institute of Critical Zoologist's Discovery of New Island Species, Biodiversity, Sand dunes and a Black Geyser on Pulau Pejantan. (read more)
...excerpt from the interview,
How has the speciation process on Pulau Pejantan differed from comparable regions?
Images from the recent expedition from January to April, 2009 are also available on our website.
From now till the 21st of October 2009, selected/limited images from the expedition will be on shown in Gallery 2902, Singapore.
More information : http://www.2902gallery.com
Pacific Lantern Fish surfacing off the coast of Pulau Pejantan, 2009
The Animal traps collection from the Institute of Critical Zoologist’s Museum is also online now (here)
The Institute of Critical Zoologists at the Substation
29th April 2009
if a tree falls in the forest
featuring resident artist, Zhao Renhui
Soon Bo's Cold Room and Shelves, 2008
Kings, Tottori Desert Cockroaches, 2008
Tottori Desert artist-led expedition, 2008
ICZ musuem collection, Taiwan fish memorabilia and Philippines Chicken Trap
If a tree falls in the forest by The Institute of Critical Zoologists questions our views and relationships with animals. They are prey, pets, trinkets, trophies and pests. This exhibition makes subversive changes in the way we observe animals and illustrates how these changes can alter perceptions and interpretations and ultimately question the human to animal relationship.
if a tree falls in the forest, an exhibition curated by the Institute, questions our conceptions and relationships with animals. As Mr Tomo Kawasaki, Director of The Institute of Critical Zoologists, has explained: “the ICZ promotes discussion about the principles and practices of animal spectatorship, animal advocacy, animal killing and animal-related policies across the fields of entertainment, social science, commerce, culture and ecology. We hope that viewers will look upon animals in a different light after seeing this exhibition.”
if a tree falls in the forest is made up of three parts: Before the flood is a live performance* that features hundreds of mousetraps springloaded with ping pong balls. Each ping pong ball represents one of the thousands of mouse species in the world. The performance is accompanied by a showcase of the Institute’s collection of animal traps from around the world. Also on show are animal memorabilia from around the globe in the ICZ museum collection.
Kings is a collection of rare white Tottori cockroaches, from the Tottori sand dunes of Japan; these creatures exemplify how animals are assigned a certain “status” based on their aesthetic appeal. The specimens are presented with projects by previous artists-in-residence who have been inspired by these curious creatures. They include Zhao Renhui’s artist-led expedition into the Tottori Desert and Sokkuan Tye’s Japanese print.
Soon Bo’s Cold Room and Shelves is a series of photographs of animals from the collection of taxidermist and biologist, the late Soon Bo. His love for animals and his skill as a taxidermist resulted in a bizarre collection of specimens, accumulated over many years. Zhao Renhui, member and a resident artist of the ICZ, spent a short time as Soon Bo’s student in taxidermy; for Zhao, “This collection blurs the lines between the natural and the artificial, as the animals stare back at you with questions in their glassy eyes, and an eerie hint of life in their bodies.”
The Institute of Critical Zoologists aims to develop a critical approach to the zoological gaze, or how humans view animals other than ourselves. Urban societies live in relative isolation from animals, and yet the demands that we put upon animals has increased tremendously over the last century. Animals are agriculture, prey, pets, trinkets, trophies and pests. And while gazing upon them is desirable and pleasurable, our visual apprehensions are not wholly natural; rather, these perceptions produce meanings and values that are culturally constructed. Moreover, in viewing the animal, humans cannot but refract the social and political contexts and values in which such observations take place.
2nd to 20th May
11am to 8pm daily, closed on public holidays
The Substation Gallery
45 Armenian Street
Singapore 179936
Admission is free
Opening reception: 2nd May, Saturday, 4pm, The Substation Gallery
Guest-of-Honour: Ms Fanny Lai, Group CEO, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo)
Also present, Dr. Tomo Kawasaki, Director, Institute of Critical Zoologists
*Special one-time sound performance by Hayashida Ken with the ignition of more then 300 spring loaded mousetraps.
There will be a limited edition catalog for sale at the exhibition.
Presented by : The Substation &The Institute of Critical Zoologists
Supported by : LEE FOUNDATION & The Singapore National Arts Council
The Institute of Critical Zoologists in Singapore
17th April 2009
This May, The Institute of Critical Zoologists will be having an exhibition featuring works from past and current artists who have worked with our archives.
Email : info@criticalzoologists.org with the subject line as : 'Join' to subscribe to our mailing list.
The Blind, 2009
The Institute of Critical Zoologists at Pickford's Museum
23rd February 2009
The Institute of Critical Zoologists and Format International Photography Festival presents :
The Ark Project
Document from the Trap Vitrine, 2009
Acusis Live Webcam Streaming Feeds, 2009
Unknown Flowerpecker with pressure points marked, possible Meiji period
Vitrine of Animal Traps
From the Animal Traps Collection, 2009
With the support of Singapore National Arts Council, Derby City Council, University of Derby, Arts Council of England, QUAD and Pickford's Museum, The Institute of Critical Zoologists / Zhao Renhui is proud to take part in this year's Format festival, United Kingdom's leading contemporary photography and media festival. The festival aims to celebrate the wealth of contemporary practice in international photography. The Institute will be showing its museum collection for the exhibition. The objects on show includes original Acusis woodblock prints, animal traps & specimens from the ICZ collection and documents from the ICZ's archive.
Duration : 1st March 2009 - 5th April 2009
Pickford's Museum, Top Floor Gallery
Derby, United Kingdom
"...For this exhibition, our artist in residence, Singaporean Artist Zhao Renhui, has painstakingly selected some representative documents from our massive archives and artefacts from our museum collection.
The ICZ museum collection comprises an extensive inventory of animal memorabilia and souvenirs that can be bought off the internet, tourist trinket shops and gift shops around the world. For Format, we have selected the an important piece from our collection by renowned Japanese zoologist Hayashida Oishi.
The ICZ also has a substantial collection of animal traps. We have chosen to show a snake trap, a gibbon trap and the curious earthworm trap found in a remote village in Nepal.
Finally, one of our flagship projects, Acusis, is being presented in Photocinema. Acusis is a method of extending the lifespan of endangered animals by performing acupuncture on them to induce a state of torpor and decreased physiological activity. Animals under Acusis are revived every five years to reproduce with another revived animal. The television screens show live video feed from web cams installed in our laboratory of the Tomaya Flowerpecker and the Rainbow Trout. The Institute of Critical Zoologists celebrates the reintroduction of more than 200 rare birds, bred at the Institute's laboratories, to the wild by the Acusis Program. The Institute of Critical Zoologists is also taking this chance to celebrate the reintroduction of more than 200 rare Sarina's Flowerpecker, bred at the Institute's laboratories, to the wild by the Acusis Program...."
Hayshida Toko
Chairman, Institute of Critical Zoologists
www.formatfestival.com/exposure/pickfords-house/renhui-zhao
www.derbyquad.co.uk
Institute of Critical Zoologists / We decided to go to the zoo but it was raining
15th October 2008
The Blind, 2008
The Institute of Critical Zoologists will be holding a public installation entitled "We decided to go to the zoo but it was raining" at the Cify of Levallois, France.
With the kind support of Epson France and the Cultural Board of Levallois, The Institute of Critical Zoologists will be holding a public exhibition at l’Escale, The Cultural Center of the City of Levallois, France. The exhibition was awarded a special mention in the augural Photo-Levallois Festival. The Institute will be showing its annual report and a summary of her projects in this special exhibition. It will consist of 114 documents from the Institute's archive.
The exhibition will be held from 17th November 2008 to 13th December 2008.
Institute of Critical Zoologists / Singapore / Renhui Zhao / Yong Ding Li
14th October 2008
Dr. Cheng Bu, Presentation at Dublin Zoo and Museum, 1999
The Institute of Critical Zoologists will be holding a public presentation at the Singapore National Museum on the 14th October 2008.
The Institute of Critical Zoologists public presentation at the Singapore National Museum on the 14th October 2008.
As part of The Institute's engagement with the public, The Institute will be giving an evening presentation of the Institute's recent iniatives, research and projects. Join Artist Renhui Zhao/Yong Ding Li for an evening presentation where he will explore the representations of the animal within the projects of The Institute of Critical Zoologists at the National Museum of Singapore.
14th October 2008
National Museum of Singapore, Seminar Room
2100-2200 hrs
Please kindly be seated by 2045 hrs.
Tomaya's Flowerpecker breeding tops century
30th May 2008
Tomaya's Flowerpecker, Revival Stage of Acusis, 2008
More than 200 rare birds bred through Acusis at the ICZ's laboratories for reintroduction to wild.
Celebrations are taking place at ICZ's museum this week with news that more than 200 rare flowerpeckers have been bred this year for reintroduction into the wild.
In fact, a staggering 226 chicks have been successfully hatched and raised to chicks through Acusis at the ICZ, far more than was hoped and giving a massive boost to the re-introduction project at the Yaeyama Islands.
The project is managed jointly by the Institute of Critical Zoologists, the Veterinary Acupuncture Center in Beijing, the Japan Laboratory of Endangered Species and the Biostatsis Institute in Fukuoka who run the laboratories at the ICZ, who work with hunters, trappers and collectors in the area to allow these beautiful and rare birds to remain in the area.
At the Yaeyama Islands, each batch of chicks is first given a health check by ICZ vet, Nicholas Woo, and then released to the wild. The project began with 1 bird released in 1997, this increased to about 85 in 2002, 105 in 2005, and 150 in 2006. This year’s number has exceeded all expectations.
ICZ's Head of Ornithology, Dr. Yong, who has been in charge of inducing Acusis on the adults said: “It’s just great to have surpassed 200. When we set up the project eleven years ago, 20 birds was the target we’d set ourselves and this is just amazing."
“Obviously, the more birds we can release the better the chance that they will come back and a sustainable population can be created in the Yaeyama Islands."
The Tomaya's Flowerpecker is just one of the few success stories from the Acusis Laboratories at the ICZ. Previous success stories include the successful re-introduction of the Yellow Chested Imperial Finch.
Notes to editors
* The Tomaya's Flowerpecker is one of the most threatened breeding bird species in the world. It started to disappear from Japan more than a century ago, because of the introduction of mechanized and intensive trapping methods. Today this relative of the more familiar Sunda flowerpecker only breeds in the Acusis Laboratories where conservationists have been working intensively with local trappers and collectors to ensure the bird’s continued survival.
* After release the birds will migrate to the Artic and on average 1% will return.
* Breeding is carried out at ICZ's Acusis Laboratories where healthy breeding adults under go artificial hibernation. The adults are revived every 2 years to breed. (The project's mission is to help save endangered animals from extinction. It does this by extending the lifespan of the thousands of animals that are expected to disappear within the next few years.) Breeding takes a total of 39 days, after which the adults are put through Acusis again. The chicks are then fed around the clock on the hour for the first 4-5 days. After 10-14 days they are taken to the Yaeyama Islands for release, once they are health checked and provided they are the correct weight.
The Death Dance, the ICZ acquires lost specimen
1st May 2008
The Death Dance by Hayashida Oishi, ICZMZ/113, The ICZ collection
Pair of scorpions in amber, circa 1950s, Giant Blue Scorpions in Amber, 18cm x 5cm, On display in Special Exhibits room
The ICZ is delighted to announce the acquisition of one of Hayshidai's Oishi most treasured and copied, widely known as 'The Death Dance'. This small devotional work was made for the late Dr.Ailaimaishua, a founder of critical zoology in Japan. The scorpions was presumed lost until it was sold at auction in London in July 1949. An exchange in collections with a private dealer allowed the ICZ to purchase it in June 2006. This specimen joins a distinguished collection of twenty other specimen made by the scientist in the Museum's collection, each of which represents a different aspect of Hayashida's art and research.
'The Death Dance' is one of the first specimens to apply an imposing Surrealistic composition to an intimately scaled specimen of the Asian Forest Scorpion. The Surrealistic style was established by Hayashida Oishi in his realistic decorations of the Prehistoric Room, Japan and in a few speciemens such as 'The Lost Hands' made just before 1930. In these works he realised a creative synthesis of the scorpions by encasing them in re-worked amber in a permanent death dance.
The purchase of this specimen was made possible by recent legacies to the ICZ and a generous donation by Zhong Yao Ren.
Notes to editors: Some other specimens by Hayshida Oishi in the ICZ collection:
'The Lost Hands', circa. 1930;
'Smallest Bee', circa. 1930;
'The Prayer during his Temptation', about 1960;
Copyright 2012, Institute of Critical Zoologists