Opening today and running until February 28th at the Museum Of Vancouver is an exhibit called Ravishing Beasts, and it’s all about "The strangely alluring world of taxidermy"!
The exhibit consists of over 110 different species of animals, mostly from the Museum's own collection (the MOV's original focus was actually natural history) that have been locked away in purgatory for a very long time. Some have never before been on public display and, surprisingly, not much is known about a lot of them as they were donated by Vancouver residents between 1894 and 1950.
To me, walking into the environment that they've created (or preserved, as it were) for the show was simply amazing, just to see all of these old critters all on display. They've been sitting in storage for so long, and they truly deserve to be on display for people to enjoy, even though many are crusty and falling apart... such is the point of the show, which you'll learn when you attend.
You'll also learn about all different genres of taxidermy and some of the interesting and bizarre practices involved. You'll learn why and how and when and you'll be left with some questions of the relevance and the future of this somewhat archaic practice/art form, which is also the point of the show. With that, I'll leave you with some photographs I shot of the exhibit. This truly needs to be seen up close and though there's a lot of images here it barely scratches the surface of the awesomeness that the MOV, along with guest curator Rachel Poloquin, have put together for you with this show.
An example of a bad taxidermy job juxtaposed against a good one (the "bad" one is actually a piece that the curator, Rachel, is the owner of):
File under "bizarre":
City Critter!:
Some not-so-well-kept relics (that's a siberian tiger cub on the left):
An installation of animals preserved in jars, and a giant rhino head:
Couple o' spirit bears:
Lastly, one of the questions posed by the exhibit:
Get more info on the show, directions to the Museum, all of that at theMuseum Of Vancouver web site.
Also, check out our review of the last big MOV exhibit, Velo-City. If you missed that one and are kicking yourself, don't blow it... don't miss Ravishing Beasts!
