Beatriz Da Costa – A Memorial for the Still Living

Horniman Museum
Saturday 2 October 2010 – Sunday 9 January 2011

Artist Beatriz da Costa creates a poignant commemoration to endangered species of the British Isles.

A Memorial for the Still Living is a contemporary art installation which confronts visitors with the reality of British species threatened with extinction. It is a continuation of da Costa’s investigation into interspecies. Her interest here is to confront visitors with the only mode of encounter left once a species has grown extinct: the description, image, sound or taxidermy shell of a once thriving organism. However, rather than focusing on already extinct species, da Costa’s focus is on the ‘still living’; species that have been classified as being under threat, but which still stand a chance for survival if immediate action is taken.

Da Costa proposes that, after they have been eradicated from our planet as a result of hunting, loss of habitat or climate change, our only opportunities for interaction with these species will be with bottled and mounted specimens. The possibility of an encounter ‘in the flesh’ will have disappeared, with humans reduced to studying preserved examples of each species.

To realise this exhibit, da Costa has worked in collaboration with collection curators at the Horniman Museum and the Natural History Museum in London. Central to her installation are taxidermy specimens of endangered animals alongside preserved botanical samples of plants under threat. Each specimen has been given a ‘birth date’ (the date of classification and inclusion into the corpus of western science) as well as a ‘death date’ (the date of projected extinction).

To coincide with the exhibition, da Costa will release the Endangered Species Finder, a mobile application that facilitates encounters with other species within their ‘natural’ environments. She believes that experience and encounter, not just policy and regulations, are what ultimately change our behaviour towards our environment. Through her encouragement of a ‘go out and meet the species before it’s too late’ attitude, da Costa hopes to make a small contribution to the collective effort of examining our current relationships to non-human species.

Beatriz da Costa is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. She works at the intersection of art, politics, engineering and the life sciences. A Memorial for the Still Living is commissioned and produced by The Arts Catalyst and John Hansard Gallery.

To learn more about Beatriz da Costa’s work: www.beatrizdacosta.net

For more information and images please contact:
Sarah Beckett Tel: 020 8291 8166 Email: sbeckett@horniman.ac.uk

Horniman Museum

The Horniman Museum opened in 1901 and holds in total some 350,000 objects in three main collections: Natural History; Anthropology and Musical Instruments. The Anthropology and Musical Instrument collections have been awarded Designated status. The Museum is core-funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and since 1990 has been governed by an independent charitable trust.

The Horniman is situated on the South Circular Road (A205) in Forest Hill, with free parking in surrounding streets. It can be easily reached by train: (Forest Hill is Just 13 minutes from London Bridge and on the new London Overground line, with other direct services from London Victoria, Clapham Junction and East Croydon), and by local buses. (176, 185, 312, 356, P4 stop outside the Horniman Museum)

Temporary Exhibition Gallery Free Admission
Press View: Thursday 30 September 10.30am – 12.30pm
Thursday Late: 25 November 7-9.30pm with artist Beatriz da Costa

Access: the Centenary Development and the Gardens are both wheelchair and pushchair friendly, as is the majority of the original building, with lift access and accessible toilets.

Public information: Telephone 020 8699 1872 or visit www.horniman.ac.uk