Kunsthalle Emden

The relationship between humans and animals is as old as humanity itself and could not be more ambivalent. Reverence and loving care, existential dependence, fear and killing determine the relationship. A peaceful coexistence seems only possible through domestication.

Images of animals have existed since man's ancestors began drawing on cave walls. Human characteristics are attributed to animals, dogs and cats are protagonists in wise fables, fairy tales and great literature, in films and games. Beloved pets are pampered while the global extinction of species continues, with devastating consequences for the entire globe. More and more people are campaigning against mass farming and for species-appropriate husbandry, but price still rules in the supermarket. Exotic wild animals are coveted trophies and status symbols. But we often do not know the names of the insects and birds in our own garden.

The animal is a central pictorial motif in art history. No other subject seems better suited to fathom the self-image of being human. From drawing and painting to sculpture, photography, video and installation, the exhibition presents a broad spectrum of forms of representation. Based on the museum's own collection and supplemented by important loans, the exhibition shows more than 120 depictions of animals from the 20th and 21st centuries, which provide stimulating, surprising and entertaining information about the multifaceted relationship between humans and animals.

Von Zeichnung und Gemälde über Skulptur bis Fotografie, Video und Installation präsentiert die Ausstellung eines breites Spektrum von Darstellungsformen. Ausgehend von der eigenen Sammlung und ergänzt um wichtige Leihgaben zeigt die Ausstellung mehr als 120 Tierdarstellungen des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts, die anregend, überraschend und unterhaltsam Auskunft über das facettenreiche Verhältnis zwischen Mensch und Tier geben.

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