New Forest 1: A History of Cows

New Forest is a new series of books looking at secondary tropical forest ecologies and histories. It is published by The Institute of Critical Zoologists.

The first volume is dedicated to the last cow in Singapore, which died in 2016.

The book contains images of the cow just before it passed away.

In 1935, a herd of feral cattle was spotted roaming Singapore. Since then, alleged sightings have been rare. Reports came mainly from Japanese soldiers in World War II and occasionally from local residents. If these reports are true, these cows were confined to the areas of Tampines, Punggol, Sembawang and Pulau Ubin. In 2016, a cow was discovered on Coney Island but died shortly after.

Some believe that wild cows still roam Singapore. 

Conceived by The Institute of Critical Zoologists (ICZ) between 2014 and 2019, this book features images of cows in Singapore from the 1890s to 2016 from ICZ's archive.

Artist Info< Robert Zhao Renhui (b. 1983, Singapore) is a multi-disciplinary artist and the founder of the Institute of Critical Zoologists. His artistic practice addresses the human relationship with nature challenging accepted parameters of objectivity and scientific modes of classifications. Zhao received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Photography from Camberwell College of Arts and London College of Communication respectively. His work has been exhibited in international group shows such as Jiwa: Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia, 2017; 7th Moscow Biennale, Russia, 2017; 20th Sydney Biennale, Australia 2016; Les Recontres d’Arles, France, 2015. Amongst his more recent solo exhibitions in Singapore are The Nature Museum, commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Art (SIFA) and The Bizarre Honour, realized for OH! Open House, both in 2017. Zhao has undertaken residencies at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France, and Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, United States, and the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. He was awarded Young Artist Award by National Arts Council in 2010 and was a finalist of Hugo Boss Asia Art Award 2017.