Wakefield Exchange to host The Sleeping Tree – an immersive journey into the Sumatran Rainforest
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Wakefield Exchange (WX) is set to transport visitors to the heart of the Sumatran rainforest with The Sleeping Tree. A free immersive sound and light experience running from Thursday 3 April to Monday 21 April 2025.
“The Sleeping Tree is a special and unique experience for visitors to WX to enjoy.
“We’re really pleased to be able to bring these innovative experiences to the heart of the city centre, where they are accessible to all, and in this fantastic new venue.
“Preserving our animals and environment for future generations is something that resonates globally as well as locally. Protecting natural habitats and biodiversity is crucial not just for the survival of the animals that live there but also to tackle the impacts of climate change.”
Cllr Hannah Appleyard
Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Sport
Every night in the forests of North Sumatra, Siamang Gibbons return to sleep in one of six special sleeping trees - the same six trees that they have used for generations.
The Sleeping Tree offers audiences a unique connection to the rare wildlife of Sumatra through a captivating soundscape. Visitors will be enveloped by the calls of one of the remaining Siamang Gibbon families as they wake, move through the rainforest, and settle for the night.
The experience also features the sounds of other endangered species, including the Sumatran elephant, hornbills, and orangutans.
The audio was collected during a three month-long mapping process, with the research helping to advocate to protect secondary rainforest from deforestation.
The installation invites audiences to step into this rare ecosystem, to slow down and absorb the soundscape - an opportunity to close their eyes, and experience something new.
Created by multi-award-winning artists Invisible Flock, based at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, The Sleeping Tree is a collaboration with LEAP (Landscape, Ecology and Primatology) at Bournemouth University, the Leuser Conservation Forum, and dedicated rangers and primatologists in Sumatra. Originally Commissioned by Brighton Festival and premiered as part of the Brighton Festival 2023.
Victoria Pratt, Creative Director, Invisible Flock, said: “The Sleeping Tree is the only recording of the Sumatran rainforest of its kind and it is a very meaningful moment for us as Yorkshire based artists to be able to share it with audiences in Wakefield.
“The sound was initially collected as a means for illustrating the huge range of biodiversity in Sumatra, so that our local partners could evidence species living in the forest and lobby to protect these ecosystems from deforestation.
“The installation comprises of three months of audio and we urge people to spend time in the work as the forest wakes and sleeps around them. Nature doesn't perform for us, there are so many individual cycles at play in the chorus of the forest, what you hear or stumble across is always spontaneous. We invite you into this rare soundscape; to come and go, to take time, to let it seep into you.”
During The Sleeping Tree, WX will also host a range of ticketed events including talks.
WX, which opened in February in the heart of Wakefield city centre, is a dynamic new space hosting events, street food vendors, studios, and more. Open seven days a week, it offers an exciting venue for innovative experiences like The Sleeping Tree.
For more information, visit https://www.wxwakefield.co.uk/ or follow WX on social media for updates.