Humans in cages, taxidermied animals at Amsterdam's new Art Zoo
The new museum showcases preserved creatures in dramatic displays inspired by 16th and 17th-century curiosity cabinets.
Amsterdam's new Art Zoo museum offers a unique experience where visitors are placed inside cages, while taxidermied animals are displayed around them in dramatic and artistic arrangements. The museum, created by Dutch artists Jaap Sinke and Ferry van Tongeren, draws inspiration from "wunderkammers," or curiosity cabinets popular among wealthy Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Visitors entering the museum are greeted by a 12-foot taxidermic crocodile suspended from the ceiling. The collection features hundreds of preserved creatures, including a cheetah, a cassowary, and a Japanese giant spider crab with a six-foot leg span, alongside piles of bones and illuminated tulips encased in apothecary jars. The artists aim to tell stories with the animals, adding a sense of drama and attitude rather than simply mimicking nature as is traditional in natural history museums.
"We really like the concept of having all the people in a cage and then all the animals free," van Tongeren told The Associated Press. "In that way, the whole building becomes one artwork." The display rooms, located in a 17th-century canal house, are enclosed by black metal cages.
None of the animals in the collection were sourced from the wild. "All our animals come from zoos where they died of natural causes," Sinke stated. The artists primarily obtain specimens from Europe to ensure they know the animals' history. They consider naturalist Charles Darwin to be a third contributor to their work, pitching the museum concept as a return of Darwin's wonder. One display includes a series of Darwin busts, humorously placed in a building that previously housed the Biblical Museum.
The collection also includes Jenny Hanivers, which are ray carcasses modified by 16th-century sailors into grotesque creatures presented as sea monsters. These modified specimens, along with the taxidermied animals and other artful displays, contribute to the museum's darkly appealing and unconventional aesthetic.
The artists, Sinke and van Tongeren, gained recognition in 2015 when artist Damien Hirst purchased their entire exhibition from a London art show. The Art Zoo's unique approach to exhibiting natural history through an artistic lens has drawn attention for its immersive and thought-provoking design.