Seeing a taxidermy specimen of an aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur, had a powerful effect on one visitor to the National Museum of Scotland’s (NMS) current primate exhibition, Monkey Business. “I was giving a lecture, and a man came up to me afterwards and said that when he saw the aye-aye in the exhibition, it was so wonderful it brought a lump to his throat,” says Andrew Kitchener, the principal curator of vertebrate biology at NMS.
The exhibition, which opened in December, displays more than 50 taxidermy specimens of primates (including monkeys, apes, lemurs, lorises and bush babies), none of which have previously gone on show. Thought to be the largest ever exhibition of its kind, it seeks to provide a vivid, naturalistic impression of how these animals live in their natural habitats. The specimens are set up in poses replicating their natural movements, with lighting and sounds creating an immersive jungle atmosphere.
For many, taxidermy calls to mind Victorian cabinets full of wonky specimens. But the craft has experienced a modern renaissance, and museums are using it creatively to explore artistic and scientific themes.
“The basic idea of taxidermy hasn’t changed,” says Kitchener. “But now we use lighter materials like foams and fibreglass, so we can achieve more dynamic poses. And in the 19th century people didn’t have photos and videos for reference – it’s much easier to capture authentic behaviours now.”
But he has the same aims as his 19th-century predecessors – to enhance visitors’ understanding of the natural world. “We wanted to show the animals doing a variety of natural behaviours that you could see in the wild, theoretically – but you’d be very lucky if you did,” he says. “It has to look good, but it also has to work in terms of helping to convey the message that we want to get across.”
Stars of the exhibition include Bobby, a gorilla that died at London Zoo in 2008, and a rare proboscis monkey acquired from the Netherlands. “Over the past 25 years, we’ve collected lots of specimens, primarily for research – but the very best of those we’ve been able to preserve and produce new taxidermy from,” says Kitchener.
The NMS’s straightforward approach is unusual. Most modern taxidermy displays take a somewhat knowing attitude, whether interrogating the nature of the craft or using it as an artistic technique.
Taxidermy features alongside documentaries, zoo architecture and animal classification systems in the Wellcome Collection’s current Making Nature exhibition, which examines the ways in which humans have sought to understand and relate to other species. And many museums and galleries have held exhibitions featuring taxidermy by artists such as Harriet Horton and Polly Morgan.
Since 2015, the Horniman Museum in south London has devoted a space at the entrance to its natural history gallery to displaying creative responses to its collections. It has shown art by Morgan and Jane Edden (who uses animal materials, though not specifically taxidermy). And it currently has an exhibition of work by ethical taxidermist Jazmine Miles-Long (see box). This features imperfect specimens from the museum’s stores alongside Miles-Long’s creations.
“We have several thousand taxidermy specimens overall and only display several hundred,” says Jo Hatton, the museum’s keeper of natural history. “It was natural for us to think about how we could relook at that and re-envision it for our audience.”
For the Horniman show I chose specimens that didn’t have much provenance. I am interested in the fact that we display taxidermy as animals, and it’s often forgotten that they are craft objects too.
You never see the taxidermist’s name next to an object. A taxidermy specimen is a human object as well as a natural history object.
I try to show that taxidermy is not a horrible, grotesque process. You have to be delicate and skilled, and have knowledge of chemistry and lots of other things.”
Jazmine Miles-Long’s show Memorial: A Tribute to Taxidermy is at the Horniman Museum, London, until 1 May
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer. Monkey Business is at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until 23 April
The exhibition, which opened in December, displays more than 50 taxidermy specimens of primates (including monkeys, apes, lemurs, lorises and bush babies), none of which have previously gone on show. Thought to be the largest ever exhibition of its kind, it seeks to provide a vivid, naturalistic impression of how these animals live in their natural habitats. The specimens are set up in poses replicating their natural movements, with lighting and sounds creating an immersive jungle atmosphere.
For many, taxidermy calls to mind Victorian cabinets full of wonky specimens. But the craft has experienced a modern renaissance, and museums are using it creatively to explore artistic and scientific themes.
“The basic idea of taxidermy hasn’t changed,” says Kitchener. “But now we use lighter materials like foams and fibreglass, so we can achieve more dynamic poses. And in the 19th century people didn’t have photos and videos for reference – it’s much easier to capture authentic behaviours now.”
But he has the same aims as his 19th-century predecessors – to enhance visitors’ understanding of the natural world. “We wanted to show the animals doing a variety of natural behaviours that you could see in the wild, theoretically – but you’d be very lucky if you did,” he says. “It has to look good, but it also has to work in terms of helping to convey the message that we want to get across.”
Stars of the exhibition include Bobby, a gorilla that died at London Zoo in 2008, and a rare proboscis monkey acquired from the Netherlands. “Over the past 25 years, we’ve collected lots of specimens, primarily for research – but the very best of those we’ve been able to preserve and produce new taxidermy from,” says Kitchener.
The NMS’s straightforward approach is unusual. Most modern taxidermy displays take a somewhat knowing attitude, whether interrogating the nature of the craft or using it as an artistic technique.
Taxidermy features alongside documentaries, zoo architecture and animal classification systems in the Wellcome Collection’s current Making Nature exhibition, which examines the ways in which humans have sought to understand and relate to other species. And many museums and galleries have held exhibitions featuring taxidermy by artists such as Harriet Horton and Polly Morgan.
Since 2015, the Horniman Museum in south London has devoted a space at the entrance to its natural history gallery to displaying creative responses to its collections. It has shown art by Morgan and Jane Edden (who uses animal materials, though not specifically taxidermy). And it currently has an exhibition of work by ethical taxidermist Jazmine Miles-Long (see box). This features imperfect specimens from the museum’s stores alongside Miles-Long’s creations.
“We have several thousand taxidermy specimens overall and only display several hundred,” says Jo Hatton, the museum’s keeper of natural history. “It was natural for us to think about how we could relook at that and re-envision it for our audience.”
Crafty creatures
“I got into taxidermy when I was volunteering at the Booth Museum in Brighton and realised that I loved it. Everything I work on has died from natural causes or an accident.For the Horniman show I chose specimens that didn’t have much provenance. I am interested in the fact that we display taxidermy as animals, and it’s often forgotten that they are craft objects too.
You never see the taxidermist’s name next to an object. A taxidermy specimen is a human object as well as a natural history object.
I try to show that taxidermy is not a horrible, grotesque process. You have to be delicate and skilled, and have knowledge of chemistry and lots of other things.”
Jazmine Miles-Long’s show Memorial: A Tribute to Taxidermy is at the Horniman Museum, London, until 1 May
Jonathan Knott is a freelance writer. Monkey Business is at the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, until 23 April