Robert Zhao: Trying to Remember a Tree
Solo Exhibition Fotografiska Shanghai, Shanghai

Artists: Robert ZHAO Renhui 赵仁辉

Fotografiska Shanghai is honored to present Trying to Remember a Tree, a solo exhibition by Singaporean artist Robert Zhao Renhui. Opening from July 24 to November 6, 2026, the exhibition brings together five groups of works centered on the lifecycle of trees. Through photography, moving image, surveillance footage, and installation, the exhibition examines how humans perceive, understand, and intervene in the natural world.

The complete lifecycle of a tree
Having represented Singapore at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, Zhao’s practice has long focused on the complex and nuanced entanglements between humans and nature. 

The upcoming exhibition Trying to Remember a Tree extends Zhao’s sustained investigation into urban order and natural ecologies, turning his attention to the complete lifecycle of a single tree. The exhibition takes a fallen rain tree as its point of departure, presenting the meticulously recorded 28,017 leaves, truncated remains of tree trunks, and 24-hour surveillance footage documenting the tree’s decomposition process. Zhao observes that within highly efficient modern urban landscapes, a dead tree is often viewed merely as debris to be quickly disposed of. Through this act of attentive observation and recording, the exhibition brings these overlooked natural remnants back into urban visibility, allowing a specific tree to serve as a lens through which to reconsider urban ecology.

Without looking at a tree, there is no forest.
Zhao notes that before we engage with broader discussions of ecosystems or environmental futures, we must first return to a grounded, micro-level act of looking—shifting from merely seeing to truly attending. As the artist dryly observes, "without looking at a tree, there is no forest." This statement both encapsulates his methodology and guides the core perspective of the exhibition. In an era where urbanization continuously absorbs nature into systems of planning and governance, Trying to Remember a Tree does not offer a singular answer. Instead, it invites visitors to slow down and encounter a specific tree and a real span of time, rediscovering the vital, co-existent connections that remain deeply entangled yet easily missed in our everyday lives.

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