Lee will conduct archival research in order to map the trajectory of European naturalist worldviews in Singapore and Southeast Asia and explore colonial subjectivities embodied in this specific form of representation.
Soyo Lee
19 December 2018 - 28 February 2019
Fascinated by the inconsistencies in taxonomic nomenclature and natural history illustrations within her own country, since 2017 Soyo Lee has been tracking the lineage of natural history representations and systems of classification in Korea. Unlike Japan and most South and Southeast Asian countries, Korea did not actively engage with Western naturalism during the modern era. Opposed by Neo-Confucian scholars during the 19th century, scientific systems for classifying and illustrating nature were introduced during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-45), with the first illustrated botanical index by a local botanist being published only in 1943. This longterm research project aims to develop a comparative analysis of the history of nature illustrations in Korea, Japan, and tropical Asia. During the residency, Lee will conduct archival research in order to map the trajectory of European naturalist worldviews in Singapore and Southeast Asia and explore colonial subjectivities embodied in this specific form of representation.
