Future Collective for Our Past Sorrows is an experimental multi-media installation that examines the spectral presence of the Yangtze River dolphin. This work includes documentation from my fieldwork at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Wuhan. There, I traced the ghostly presence of the Yangtze River dolphin, examining the now-abandoned pool where Qiqi, the last known Baiji dolphin, once lived. The objects in the exhibition are drawn partly from the Institute, with others borrowed from and given by the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. A soundtrack of a fictionalised curator's narration accompanies the piece.

My fieldwork prompted a few questions: what if the story were told from the perspective of the dying Baiji dolphin? What if I hypothesised that his memories lingered long after his passing? That somehow, his spirit still lived in the pool, allowing us to meet? This project seeks to understand what happens to conservation efforts and the memories they engender when care and attention run out.