Page 75 - The Digital Cloth Issue 6
P. 75

‘Assets’ and ‘Looted’ were made in

 response to artists Bob Osborne and
 Carrie Reichardt collaborative art
 project Cash is King – The Art of the
 Defaced Banknote. My work was part of
 Cash is King 2 – Money Talks, which was
 exhibited at The Saatchi Gallery in
 London in August 2019, and published in
 a limited-edition book of the same name,
 featuring original art on banknotes by

 contemporary artists from around the
 world.
 I am a believer in People Power and that
 we can all make a positive impact by
 using it.
 The Sumatran orangutan and tiger, as
 well as other species of Indonesian
 wildlife, are critically endangered due to
 habitat loss, through deforestation for
 palm oil plantations, agricultural
 development and human settlement.

 Their land is being looted and they are
 being killed for commercial gain.
 Orangutans were once found across  Alison Carpenter-Hughes
 Sumatra, but are now restricted to the
 North of the island. Females only give
 birth to one infant every eight to nine
 years, so loss through unnatural causes
 are devastating to the population. Fires
 started deliberately have decimated huge

 areas and killed many of the
 slow-moving apes. Destruction of habitat
 has also forced the tigers into settled
 areas, which causes retaliation from
 villagers when people or cattle are killed.
 It is estimated that fewer than 400   People Power
 Sumatran tigers now
 survive. Both animals are vulnerable to
 capture through illegal trade –
 orangutans being kept as status symbols
 or used for food and tigers poached for

 the market in parts and products. The
 orangutans and tigers are crucial to the
 biodiversity of the island and these
 often-illegal practices are unsustainable.
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