Robert Zhao Renhui

Robert Zhao Renhui’s catalogue of plants and animals, A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World, is full of unexpected discoveries. On the walls of the gallery, Zhao presents images and text excerpts. These texts describe how different species have evolved in response to human intervention and changing environments. Some of these narratives are based on real scientific findings, while others are imagined and hypothetical proposals. The guide is issued by The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ), a fictional institution invented by the artist. It mimics encyclopaedic traditions to explore the limits of how institutions of authority collect, organise, and share knowledge.

Robert Zhao Renhui is a contemporary artist based in Singapore. He works primarily with photography, bringing together documents and objects to analyse humankind’s relationship with nature. Blurring the boundary between fact and fiction, his work questions our reliance on photography as truth-based evidence and considers alternative ways of understanding the world.