Listen with Incense: Cheng YANG Solo Exhibition (Chapter 2)

“Listen with Incense” is a collaboration between scientists of Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) and artist Cheng Yang, to raise public awareness about Hong Kong’s Incense Tree (Aquilaria sinensis), an iconic local tree species that is threatened by poaching.

Since 2017, KFBG has been researching the ecology and genetic diversity of the Incense Tree in a joint project with the University of Hong Kong. As a large number of mature Incense Trees have been cut down in Hong Kong and neighbouring parts of South China in recent years for the valuable agarwood they contain, the remaining younger trees become all the more important in ensuring that the species remains resilient in the face of both ongoing attack by poachers and other increasingly frequent natural threats, such as outbreaks of pests and diseases, as well as climate change. The project involved a survey of over 1,000 individuals in Hong Kong to produce a unique genetic fingerprint for every single plant. The resulting data have shed light on the species’ capacity to survive the recent waves in poaching and the action that needs to be taken in order to protect the most vulnerable populations, to increase the resilience of the species in the face of both ongoing attack by poachers and other increasingly frequent natural threats, such as outbreaks of pests and diseases.

Meanwhile, PhD student Cheng Yang and Prof. Ryo Ikeshiro from the City University of Hong Kong are collaborating with KFBG ecologists Dr. Huarong Zhang and Dr. Stephan Gale to explore the sensory reverberations of Incense Tree life cycles. In different weathers, Cheng is observing and documenting the lives of Incense Trees, capturing the surrounding environment through field recording and video shooting. She is particularly interested in using different media to show where Incense Trees grow and how they perceive their surroundings. The drawings she ultimately presents combine sound and visual elements to vividly depict the interactions between incense trees, other species and humans. In addition, Cheng’s sound installation allows audiences to listen to the genetic diversity of incense trees, offering a scientific perspective to rediscover incense trees.