Animal Lovers in Berlin – exhibition and symposium
Lin May Saeed, The Liberation of Animals from their Cages XVII, 2015 – on show at Animal Lovers
A new exhibition, Animal Lovers, is about to open at the ngbk in Oranienstrasse in Berlin and I am delighted to have been asked to contribute to the symposium during the show as part of the occasion. The organisers’ summary argues that:
The exhibition ANIMAL LOVERS proposes that we not see animals as “the other” or as a projection surface for our own desires, preferences or fears, but rather that we see them as individuals with abilities and rights. The exhibited artworks give impetus for a new understanding of the relationship between humans and animals and encourage that we regard animals as our equals. Human-animal relationships are constructed by society and therefore modifiable. The selected works deal critically with existing inequalities; they expose contradictions and clichés in the daily and medialised treatment of animals. The invited artists encounter the animals as individuals and explore the possibility of artistic collaborations. The exhibition shows architecture that allows both humans and animals to find their bearings in the habitat of the other and scenarios in which this is miraculously already the case.
I am giving a short presentation on Saturday November 5th within the symposium that runs from 2 -8 on animal pasts and representation in London today. It will look at aspects of the landscape specifically formed by the animal -human relationship as well as public representations. I am speaking alongside Kim Stallwood and others in an english language slot from 6 -8.
Not for the first time do I question the value of being in the ‘top’ latin class rather than the ‘lower’ german class at school and the categorisation of languages in that way… though if the german teaching was anything like the french it might not have made much difference…
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