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Borneo challenge provides new focus for Suffolk artist

Chance, friendship and an insatiable curiosity recently took Suffolk artist Annie Owen to the island of Borneo where, during her travels, she discovered a cause she has brought back to Suffolk: the plight of the Orang-utans.

As part of her trip, Annie visited the Semenggoh Forest Reserve, a rehabilitation centre for captured or orphaned Orang-utans.

The reserve is set in a 650 hectare area of jungle and it was there that she met Ritchie, a 27 year old Orang-utan, of whom she wrote in her journal: ‘Ritchie leaned casually against the sturdy post bearing the welcome sign and looked me up and down. ‘He was tall, strong and lean with bright red hair; not a conventionally handsome individual, but what really caught my attention and held me rapt was the intelligent twinkle in his deep brown eyes. We continued to gaze at each other for a while, then Ritchie sloped away for his breakfast, leaving me mesmerised by this silent but intimate exchange.’
He and the other semi-wild Orang-utans are encouraged to roam and are free to go further afield, but as Annie discovered during her travels, there is trouble in paradise. Vast areas of virgin rainforest have been replaced with palm oil plantations, and this is threatening a species with whom mankind shares 96.4% of its genetic make-up.

‘The plantations are being planted so quickly and relentlessly that, shockingly, some UN scientists believe that these plantations could lead to the extinction of Orang Utans by the year 2012,’ says Annie, pointing out that this is the same year we will be celebrating the Olympic Games in the UK.
‘Friends of the Earth give it a little longer by estimating 2019. Either way, it is imminent.’
Determined to help raise awareness, Annie has decided to hold an exhibition based on her impressions of her journey at the Fisher Theatre in Bungay, Suffolk, in October.

‘I loved Borneo immedi-ately. I am hoping that the powerful impact that Borneo and its inhabitants had on me is conveyed or, at least, hinted at in my work and that the images are all strong enough to interest visitors to the exhibition, be they pure photography, digitally manipulated images, monoprints or etchings. Borneo made a lasting impact on me. I can only hope that some of this passion is visible in my work.’