"man and beast and other animals"

In prehistoric times, human beings and animals roamed the Earth as equals. Like the animals, human beings were subject to the forces of nature, adapting to far-reaching climate change, wandering in search of water and food, hunting and being hunted.

Throughout the development of the species, human beings have gradually learned to master nature. Their inventions have changed the face of the world beyond recognition – from the control of fire, through the agricultural revolution and the domestication of animals, to urbanization and industrialization, and up to the technological revolutions of the new era. The human species has become the largest species ever to walk the Earth.

At the opening of the 21st century, natural scientists have proposed a name for this epoch on the Earth’s geological timeline: “Anthropocene.” The new term points to humankind’s definitive geological imprint on the world, whose impact is felt, among other things, in greenhouse emission levels, rising temperatures and sea levels, soil erosion, deforestation, and the extinction of many species of animals as a result of hunting and destruction of ecosystems.

Like animals, we are flesh and blood creatures who are subject to the forces of nature, to its beneficial effects and its dangers. And yet we experience nature increasingly from a distance, mediated through screens or through the encounter with domesticated animals. We tend to assess animals by moral standards, as if they were human beings. But what happens when we meet animals that are not subordinate to humans, when we discover their wild nature?

The exhibit invites you to observe and think about humankind’s relationship with nature through an encounter with contemporary art works focusing on animals, raising questions about human’s unprecedented influence on those creatures. The works touch upon the asymmetrical power relations that turn animals into a symbol of vulnerability. They explore questions of balance and harmony in nature and human beings’ place within the cycle of life, the real and symbolic meeting points between animals and humans, and the feelings that the encounter with animals awakens – curiosity, wonder and magic, affection and compassion, repulsion and perhaps fear. The exhibit challenges us to think about how our attitudes toward animals reflect the current state of humanity and intrahuman relations and asks us what kind of world we want to leave behind us.

Curator: Adi Shelach