Central Kalimantan, December 2015. Courtesy of Theresa Wong

The Haze: An Inquiry is a special research project that takes place at The Lab space of the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore developed on the occasion of The Sovereign Forest, an ongoing enquiry by artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar. The Haze, as a public accessible research laboratory, explores Kanwar’s working method and the potential of artistic language and transdisciplinary collaboration to understand and engage in challenges of our time, focusing on a contemporary situation of local and regional relevance.

A core group of specialists from varied fields of law, natural and social sciences, literature, art and architecture, media and theatre, is brought together in a series of workshops and discussions to explore the haze situation as an environmental, human, and legal challenge, given its transnational impact. The aim is to create a collection of “evidence” and to investigate the potential of the haze to be considered a “crime”. This collecting which include factual information and data, compilation of ancestral knowledge, media clippings, commentaries, unrecorded oral knowledge, as well as writings, photographs, and films will be gathered in the space amidst working notes of the core group. Using these “evidences”, participants will uncover social and environmental impacts beyond the haze, and deliberate on questions of social justice, corporate environmental responsibilities, agronomy cultures in industrial developments, amongst others. Each participant brings to the discussion individual responses that stem from their respective interests and disciplines. This research platform aims to assemble a diversity of viewpoints to provoke alternative ways of looking at and talking with a wider public about contemporary situations of urgency.

Venue: NTU CCA Singapore, The Lab, Block 43 Malan Road, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109443

When: 12 Aug - 25 Sep 2016,

By: NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore)