Salone del Mobile - Stuffed Exhibition

Salone del Mobile is coming up soon (the 22nd to the 27th of April) and we've been getting all kinds of emails about all the good things going on there this year. One of the exhibits that caught my eye is the Stuffed exhibition - a presentation of works inspired by the historical collection of animals belonging to the Milieu Educatie Centrum Eindhoven. The exhibition statement describes Stuffed as "a journey though the world of taxidermy, skin, living environment, the beauty of life and death, appearance and science."

"The MEC owns a large collection of objects. What started as a bird collection grew to become a broad assortment of more than 70,000 pieces. Most of the animals are from the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant and have historical value. During the year only a few of them are exhibited while the rest remain a well-kept secret to the public. This consists of mammals and birds which are being carefully preserved in dozens of closets in the attic, insects are drawn up perfectly in glass frames, there are drawers full of eggs, and somewhere, you’ll find a lost amphibian in preservation liquids; Together they form a perfectly preserved biotope. This historical archive formed the basis of the exhibition that will be presented at 'Dutchness'."

Marjolijn Mandersloot's Makeover sculptures. I can't tell if these pieces are made from animal hides or if they are made from bronze - her website seems to indicate most of her sculptures are made from metals, but it sure looks like hide to me. As much as I don't really like the idea of taxidermy, this particular project would be a lot more compelling if it were an interpretive sculpture of the animal, fabricated from its own hide.



My personal favorite - Anne ten Donkelaar's Wittenoord jewelry - creepily preserved insects in glass bubbles.

Below is Peep - Raw Color, by Daniera ter Haar & Christoph Brach. Peep is a photographic series that plays with our perception of stuffed birds, by graphically overlaying the sounds that each bird makes, over its taxidermied body.