An Invocation to the Earth

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.