What happens when the threads of an ecosystem start to disappear? That question drove Project Riwayat, Katha 1: Voices of the Vanishing, an exhibition held over three weekends in May at Hin Bus Depot in Penang.
Co-producers Bright Ong and Christine Das used puppetry, embroidery, and talks to explore the ecological and cultural cost of losing Malaysia’s wildlife. The exhibition focused on seven endangered species: the helmeted hornbill, Irrawaddy dolphin, Malayan tiger, Bornean banteng, Sunda pangolin, Malayan tapir, and Raffles’ banded langur.
“As species vanish, so do the stories, dances and crafts they once inspired,” Bright said.
Bright’s Wildlife Encounters puppetry section featured two standout pieces. An Irrawaddy dolphin puppet, smaller than real life, was built from EVA foam, aluminium rods, spring wire, and batik cut-outs. A helmeted hornbill puppet, constructed at one-to-one scale, required two puppeteers and used simple weight-and-counterbalance mechanisms to switch between rest, flight, and dive modes.
“Every single item used to build the puppets came from local industries, both old and new,” Bright said. Materials included fishing lines, upcycled fishing rods, carbon fibre blades, brassware, and bamboo.
The performances ran 20 times. In one story, a dolphin calf trapped in a fishing net was saved by children pulled from the audience.
Christine’s Hanging by a Thread embroidery section displayed black and gold thread on translucent grey mesh at COEX@Kilang Besi within the depot. She used gold saree thread to spotlight key features — the angular horns of the Bornean banteng, the half-crescent eye markings of the Raffles’ banded langur.
The metaphor ran deep. “Looking at a saree, I realised that cutting just a few threads causes the entire piece to unravel. To me, that symbolises the ecosystem… If you remove one species, everything falls apart,” she said.
The Malayan tapir piece was left incomplete. Visitors were invited to add stitches, demonstrating the patience and collective effort conservation demands.
“Of the seven species we are highlighting, I believe the tiger will be the first to disappear. Since it is our national icon, this is the saddest reality for Malaysia,” Christine said.
A talk titled Monkey Business by wildlife photographer Peter Ong spotlighted the 12 primate species in Peninsular Malaysia, countering the assumption that primates belong only to Borneo. He highlighted the critically endangered Raffles’ banded langur, the stump-tailed macaque, and the Sunda slow loris.
“When you look at a primate and they return your gaze, there is a remarkable intelligence behind their eyes, which is unmistakable,” Peter said. “That is the first way you can tell that someone or something is alive, when you see the thought process happening behind the gaze.”
The project was funded under the Hasanah Foundation’s ArtsFAS grant programme and supported by the Penang Arts District.
Source: The Star
