Two weeks ago, I went to a museum.
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The dark cabinet contained a taxidermy small dog like creature. Curled up on its side. As if resting by the fire in a modern home.
The animal had stripes in its back.
At first I didn't realise what it was. There was no obvious label explaining what the display was. But something looked familiar. I'd seen pictures of these before. But only pictures.
I rotated round on the seat and discovered the explanation of what I was looking at was on the wall behind me. I confirmed my fear.
13/n
I sat there on a bench next to the taxidermy Thylacine and cried.
If you don't know what a thylacine is. You won't be alone. They went extinct in the wild in the early 20th century. The last one died in Hobart zoo on Tasmania in 1936. You may have heard of this species by it's other name. The Tasmanian tiger. Because of the stripes along it's back.
Before white settlers colonised Australia, there were ~5000 of these magnificent animals. But now all we have to remember them by is...
14/n -
I sat there on a bench next to the taxidermy Thylacine and cried.
If you don't know what a thylacine is. You won't be alone. They went extinct in the wild in the early 20th century. The last one died in Hobart zoo on Tasmania in 1936. You may have heard of this species by it's other name. The Tasmanian tiger. Because of the stripes along it's back.
Before white settlers colonised Australia, there were ~5000 of these magnificent animals. But now all we have to remember them by is...
14/nA few black and white photos. And an even smaller number of taxidermy specimens in museums. I wondered how many other taxidermy animals I had walked past which no longer existed in the wild.
15/n -
J jwcph@helvede.net shared this topic
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A few black and white photos. And an even smaller number of taxidermy specimens in museums. I wondered how many other taxidermy animals I had walked past which no longer existed in the wild.
15/nI started my walk back through the rooms. Stopping for a moment next to an elephant seal to marvel at just how huge these creatures are. I admired the whale skeleton on display opposite it. But to leave the room. you walk through an arch made from a pair of whale jaw bones. It's a familiar image. I've seen this arrangement in pictures of whaling stations taken across the world. A reminder of a time when humanity hunted these magnificient creatures to near extinction.
16/n
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A few black and white photos. And an even smaller number of taxidermy specimens in museums. I wondered how many other taxidermy animals I had walked past which no longer existed in the wild.
15/n@quixoticgeek Not to be that guy... But please CW this type of content!
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I started my walk back through the rooms. Stopping for a moment next to an elephant seal to marvel at just how huge these creatures are. I admired the whale skeleton on display opposite it. But to leave the room. you walk through an arch made from a pair of whale jaw bones. It's a familiar image. I've seen this arrangement in pictures of whaling stations taken across the world. A reminder of a time when humanity hunted these magnificient creatures to near extinction.
16/n
A reminder of a time before humanity as a whole woke up and realised we must stop killing these magnificient creatures. When we literally understood.
[cetacean needed].
I walked back through more rooms. A room of bears. A room of Antilope. Room full of canids. And eventually. I got to the last room I hadn't yet visited. The last numbered room on the map. A map that started with the creation of the rocks the world is made up of. All the way through The evolution of humanity.
17/n
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A reminder of a time before humanity as a whole woke up and realised we must stop killing these magnificient creatures. When we literally understood.
[cetacean needed].
I walked back through more rooms. A room of bears. A room of Antilope. Room full of canids. And eventually. I got to the last room I hadn't yet visited. The last numbered room on the map. A map that started with the creation of the rocks the world is made up of. All the way through The evolution of humanity.
17/n
I stood there and looked at the last exhibit of the museum. A figure with a raised arm, slightly twisted upper body, as if frozen mid pirouette...
The taxidermy orangutan looked back.
It's empty lifeless eyes. This magnificent, intelligent sentient creature. In the wild orangutan are on the brink of extinction. Critically endangered according to the IUCN.
This whole museum is a giant monument not just to the natural history of this rock we all call home. But...
18/n
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I stood there and looked at the last exhibit of the museum. A figure with a raised arm, slightly twisted upper body, as if frozen mid pirouette...
The taxidermy orangutan looked back.
It's empty lifeless eyes. This magnificent, intelligent sentient creature. In the wild orangutan are on the brink of extinction. Critically endangered according to the IUCN.
This whole museum is a giant monument not just to the natural history of this rock we all call home. But...
18/n
The dark colonial history that built it. The artifacts in this museum have been collected over a period of several hundred years. But a bulk of the collection dates from a time when humanity spread across the world, killing, destroying, pillaging.
Colonising.
I'm a white girl from Britain. I have absolutely no right to lecture any one on their nations' colonial past. That's not what I'm trying to do here.
But it's impossible to escape that this museum largely exists because of it.
19/n -
The dark colonial history that built it. The artifacts in this museum have been collected over a period of several hundred years. But a bulk of the collection dates from a time when humanity spread across the world, killing, destroying, pillaging.
Colonising.
I'm a white girl from Britain. I have absolutely no right to lecture any one on their nations' colonial past. That's not what I'm trying to do here.
But it's impossible to escape that this museum largely exists because of it.
19/nWhat animals are there alive today, that children born now, will only ever see in museums like this ? As species after species is driven past the point of no return. Walking back from the Thylacine I passed a white rhino. There are two northern white Rhino left alive. Both females. The species is functionally extinct. And it will go fully extinct soon. Hunted. Killed. Destroyed by humanity.
This museum is incredible. A temple to the astounding miracle of the natural world...
20/n
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The dark colonial history that built it. The artifacts in this museum have been collected over a period of several hundred years. But a bulk of the collection dates from a time when humanity spread across the world, killing, destroying, pillaging.
Colonising.
I'm a white girl from Britain. I have absolutely no right to lecture any one on their nations' colonial past. That's not what I'm trying to do here.
But it's impossible to escape that this museum largely exists because of it.
19/nThis is, I think, the correct response to museums: a mixture of wonder and horror. All the animals that were killed just to provide a 'specimen' for us to view.
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What animals are there alive today, that children born now, will only ever see in museums like this ? As species after species is driven past the point of no return. Walking back from the Thylacine I passed a white rhino. There are two northern white Rhino left alive. Both females. The species is functionally extinct. And it will go fully extinct soon. Hunted. Killed. Destroyed by humanity.
This museum is incredible. A temple to the astounding miracle of the natural world...
20/n
It reminded me of something written by Douglas Adams in the book I consider his greatest work. One you should all read.
"Last chance to See"
The section in question is quoted on this page: https://liamlynch.ie/2023/11/is-this-our-last-chance/
The natural world is incredible. And for all the incredibly dark disturbing past that underlies a museum like this. It's places like this that allow many of us to get a glimpse of how amazing the natural world is. As DNA said.
"it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”
21/21
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It reminded me of something written by Douglas Adams in the book I consider his greatest work. One you should all read.
"Last chance to See"
The section in question is quoted on this page: https://liamlynch.ie/2023/11/is-this-our-last-chance/
The natural world is incredible. And for all the incredibly dark disturbing past that underlies a museum like this. It's places like this that allow many of us to get a glimpse of how amazing the natural world is. As DNA said.
"it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”
21/21
Postscript:
I'm not sure where I'm trying to go with this thread. This museum was both incredible in its beauty, but also in the destruction it catalogues. The record of a world we've lost. It's an awful lot to think about. Thank you if you've read this far. And if you haven't already, go read "last chance to see"
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@quixoticgeek Not to be that guy... But please CW this type of content!
@hugh the whole thread? Or just parts of it? Which bits ?
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The dark colonial history that built it. The artifacts in this museum have been collected over a period of several hundred years. But a bulk of the collection dates from a time when humanity spread across the world, killing, destroying, pillaging.
Colonising.
I'm a white girl from Britain. I have absolutely no right to lecture any one on their nations' colonial past. That's not what I'm trying to do here.
But it's impossible to escape that this museum largely exists because of it.
19/n@quixoticgeek I think the more I understand about colonisation the more I think the term should be invasion.
Colonising sounds quite peaceful, but in most cases the local inhabitants were defeated and subdued in battle. In many they were almost completely eliminated through ethnic cleansing. -
Postscript:
I'm not sure where I'm trying to go with this thread. This museum was both incredible in its beauty, but also in the destruction it catalogues. The record of a world we've lost. It's an awful lot to think about. Thank you if you've read this far. And if you haven't already, go read "last chance to see"
@quixoticgeek I think that is exactly the message you’re bringing across with this beautifully written thread. Thank you!
Museums are indeed a place to learn about the world, and get a feel for the endless possibilities it holds - and for the things we’ve lost and destroyed.
Now I need to go to Vienna again.
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Postscript:
I'm not sure where I'm trying to go with this thread. This museum was both incredible in its beauty, but also in the destruction it catalogues. The record of a world we've lost. It's an awful lot to think about. Thank you if you've read this far. And if you haven't already, go read "last chance to see"
@quixoticgeek Thanks. It was wonderful to accompany you on that tour!
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Postscript:
I'm not sure where I'm trying to go with this thread. This museum was both incredible in its beauty, but also in the destruction it catalogues. The record of a world we've lost. It's an awful lot to think about. Thank you if you've read this far. And if you haven't already, go read "last chance to see"
@quixoticgeek thank you for this thread!
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After a slice of Sacher Toort met sahne in the Museum Cafe, it was time to explore the second floor of the museum. Chronologically, what we had progressed to now could be considered modern. I walked past display cased full of beautiful irridescent butterflies. A room full of crabs. Fish. Reptiles. And amphibians. Each static. Imobilised in it's display case. The incredible. Old. Wooden display cases.
I should have understood.
But I didn't.
11/n@quixoticgeek
Oh god, I've been there. I remember those rooms vividly.
Horrifying in so many ways. -
Postscript:
I'm not sure where I'm trying to go with this thread. This museum was both incredible in its beauty, but also in the destruction it catalogues. The record of a world we've lost. It's an awful lot to think about. Thank you if you've read this far. And if you haven't already, go read "last chance to see"
@quixoticgeek You don't need to be going anywhere with it - it stands on it's own as something to think seriously about.
I think it's made more powerful by there not being a specific goal that you're heading for, but simply sharing your thoughts and feelings as you progressed through the museum.
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@hugh the whole thread? Or just parts of it? Which bits ?
@quixoticgeek The images with skeletons!
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@quixoticgeek The images with skeletons!
@hugh done.
