Exposition Jalan Jati (Teak Road)

The results of three years of research and production, the interdisciplinary exhibition from Singapore, Jalan Jati (Teak Road) will open at the Edinburgh Science Festival on 21 March 2013 and run at the John Hope Gallery Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh until July 2013.

Jalan Jati (Teak Road) traces the material, genetic, historic and poetic journeys of a teak bed found in a Singapore karang guni junk store back to where the original tree may have grown, via photography, woodprint collage, animation and DNA tracking technology.

ABOUT JALAN JATI (TEAK ROAD)

ARTWORKS: 

The artworks in the exhibition include a new series of eleven 150cm x 200cm wood print collages, compiled of prints from the original teak bed by Lucy Davis and eight new large format photographs by Shannon Lee Castleman.

ANIMATED FILM:  

The exhibition also features an international-award-winning experimental film by Davis, in collaboration with Singapore/UK composers and sound artists Zai Kuning and Zai Tang.

ART BOOK:  

The exhibition opening will also be the launch of a 200-page art book on the Jalan Jati project, specially published for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with writing by Kevin Chua, Lucy Davis, Kate Kangaslahti and Lee Weng Choy.

4 STOP MOTION FILMS & EDUCATION PACK:  

Also on display in Edinburgh are educational materials for schools about trees, timber and people conceptualised by Dr Shawn Lum from the Natural Sciences and Science Education Academic Group of the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.  The materials include four animated stop motion films and a supplementary education pack accessible online and via mobile phone.

Twelve visual communications, film and animation graduates and students from the School of Art, Design and Media NTU have been involved in the design and production of the experimental film, the education animations and on and offline teaching materials for this exhibition (see list of collaborators below):

LIST OF COLLABORATORS:

Art: Lucy Davis, art writer, artist; Shannon Lee Castleman, photographer; Zailani Kuning, composer/musician and Zai Tang, composer/musician

Science: Dr Shawn Lum, plant biologist NIE NSSE and president, Nature Society of Singapore; Shankar Iyerh, DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies (until 2011); Darren

Thomas, managing director, DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies; Dr Andrew Lowe, chair in plant conservation biology, University of Adelaide; Laksana Pelawi, country officer, DoubleHelix Tracking Indonesia (until 2011)

Publication Editor: Yu-Mei Balasingamchow

Curatorial Advisor: Lee Weng Choy

Project Designers: Hera; Ong Fang Zheng; Dennice Juwono

Student animators: (conceptualisation and realisation of educational animation): Song Ting Xi Jemima; Ang Wei Tyng; Chan Phui Yung; Goh Wei Choon; Wee Jia Hui; Wee Nai De Mark

Student assistants (Jalan Jati film editors): Tan Jac Min Benjamin; Edwina Ong Zhi Yi; Yap Su Zhen Michelle

Student assistant (website): Farhana Jafaar

AWARDS FOR JALAN JATI (TEAK ROAD) & COLLABORATORS:

The film Jalan Jati (Teak Road) won the Promotion Award at the International Short Film Festival at Oberhausen. The film was also Official Selection at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 2013 and won Special Mention for Animation and Best Sound at the Singapore Short Film Awards 2013.

The concept for Jalan Jati was Finalist for the French Prix COAL Art & Ecology prize 2011.

Our collaborators DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies won Silver Medal in the International Green Awards UK 2011.

DEVELOPMENTS: 

When the exhibition returns to Singapore it will be developed and extended for NUS Museum in collaboration with NTU Museums and Heritage.

Jalan Jati the film will form a centrepiece of a permanent exhibit on DNA, wood and trees at the new Lee Kong Chian Singapore Natural History Museum.

Websites :

Migrant Ecologies
DoubleHelix Tracking

JALAN JATI (TEAK ROAD) OPENS AT THE EDINBURGH SCIENCE FESTIVAL,  ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN, EDINBURGH 

MARCH 21 2013

The exhibition comes out of a Singapore Ministry of Education ACRF Tier 1 research collaboration with DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies Singapore.