Arts Environment and the Koran

“Corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on account of what the hands of men have wrought, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, so that they may return” (30, 41)

Lo! We offered the trust
Unto the heavens and the
Earth and the hills,
But they shrank from bearing it
And were afraid of it
And man assumed it
Lo! He is a tyrant and a fool

—The Koran 33:72 (quoted in Dien 110)

I was just doing research on Islam and the environment, a topic that Soraya, Ariff, Shahril and myself have discussed as a possible viewpoint of getting more people to participate in Arts for the Environment. I just found a nifty link below:

http://ddm.iatp.az/ddm/amazen.html
Religion and the Environment

In any case, we were thinking of adding some of these verses to the exhibit possibly? Will it take away from the message of the images/prints displayed? Or will it add to it?

The largest riverine mangrove system in Johor State, located at the estuary of the Sungai Pulai river. With its associated seagrass beds, intertidal mudflats and inland freshwater riverine forest the site represents one of the best examples of a lowland tropical river basin, supporting a rich biodiversity dependent on mangrove. It is home for the rare and endemic small tree Avicennia lanata, animals such as near-threatened and vulnerable Long-tailed Macaque, Smooth Otter and rare Flat-headed Cat and threatened birds species as Mangrove Pitta and Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, all included in the IUCN Red List. Relatively undisturbed parts including the Nipah swamps may be nesting sites of the Estuarine Crocodile. The site fringes play a significant role in shoreline stabilization and severe flood prevention in the adjacent 38 villages. The local population depends on the estuary as its mudflats, an ideal feeding, spawning and fattening ground, support a significant proportion of fish species. Other mangrove uses include wood cutting, charcoal production, aquaculture activities and eco-tourism. The current construction of a new port at the river estuary may represent a direct impact on the mangrove ecosystem, causing coastal erosion and water pollution from associated dredging and reclamation works and traffic. The site is managed in line with Integrated Management Plan for the sustainable use of mangroves in Johor state. Ramsar site no. 1288. (Reference)

MDeC and Singapore Grants

Talked to MDeC the other day about how they can help sponsor Arts for the Environment. As it is, we do have an ad-hoc association, with funding from a gamut of sources; however, we are experiencing some level of difficulty when it comes to providing funds for the exhibitions. Most of the money goes into the materials for these exhibitions. Surprisingly, very little of the money goes to the artist. We haven't even began to think about how we will fund marketing and publicity.

I can see how MDeC can help sponsor the exhibition of Arts for the Environment events, but this model is unsustainable. We were thinking of artists donating part of their works to the organization, and the money from works sold would help fund future expeditions and exhibitions. But all work is not necessarily sellable.

Just looked into the Singapore National Arts Council. There appears to be some level of granting available in Singapore. How would that work? Would we be selling out?

Upcoming Exhibition: Nusajaya Launch

Struck an agreement with UEM to do an exhibit with the Nusajaya lauch, with the PM officiating on the 23rd of February. We were able to secure the porch entrance, just before the PM walks into the main gallery of the Nusajaya office.

I'm in the process of working out this budget, which is approximately RM20,000 - a sum that is considerable, but on par with most exhibitions. The advantage of getting this exhibit done right on the first pass is that we can reuse the materials again in future exhibitions.

The pictures displayed here are of the porch area.

Expedition: Pendas & Sg. Pulai

We recently went on an expedition on the 26th of January, to Sg. Pendas and the ramsar site at Sg. Pulai. The boatman, who's name escapes me, was experienced with taking us to unknown places for excellent shots. We started off at 5:45am and got back home around 2am. A long day, but well worth it. We got to the Nusajaya office in less than 2.5h, and started the boat around 10:30am. We were on the boat until approx 5:30pm. Shahril and Ariff went to get the rental car, and we had dinner around 7:30pm.

Not so much wildlife this time round. The weather was cool, with intermittent rain. The speedboat was fast, so I was glad I had my poncho on. While in the area, we saw a few mudskippers, and this monitor lizard trying to catch some sun. We also saw a few birds.

Ariff at one point got out of the boat in bare feet into the mangrove to take some shots!


Crew on board: Shahril, Dang, Raziff, Ariff, Man, and myself. (Clockwise from left)
We finished off with an awesome dinner on the jetty, with Assam Pedas (catfish - eek), prawn, chilli crab, siakap three tastes, kangkong belacan, salt fish kailan, and hot hot rice!