A child dies, a child plays, a woman is born, a woman dies, a bird arrives, a bird flies off

Shireen Seno explores the intersections of human existence with the natural world through moving images and print. The visual narrative that unfolds across the Esplanade Tunnel delves into her interest in the power of images and how they speak into our lived experiences across time and locales.

Inspired by recollections of her father’s move to the United States in the early 2000s and her cosmopolitan upbringing, Seno reflects on migration and the ways it shapes identity and belonging. In a series of five moving image projections, the artist juxtaposes the lives of birds and humans. Seno directs her camera lens to the local and migratory birds that make the Candaba Wetlands—north of Manila, the Philippines—their habitat, and toward her children and scenes of family life. For Seno, birds serve as role models for humans, as they endeavour to survive across varied terrains. The work invites viewers to contemplate our parallel experiences of building homes and the knowledge embedded in nature.

In a photo-zine and a video, both entitled Trunks, Seno looks at the parts of trees that we relate to at eye level and the affinities shared between man and our natural surroundings. The video essay To Pick a Flower sees the artist weaving together archival photographs of trees from the American Colonial Era (c.1898-1946) in the Philippines. Through these images, she speculates on how trees were exploited for economic gain and the consequences capitalism had on society and the environment. This exhibition meditates on our complex relationships with the natural world and the insight images could lend to these layered connections.