Alternatives to death - An illustrators thoughts on the ethics of the zoological display

Abstract

Everything that has ever lived will at one point die, but what happens after we die is not the same for everyone. Some death holds more emotional value than other, and this is something that becomes especially obvious within the walls of the Natural History Museum. While discussions surrounding the ethics of displaying human remains are constantly ongoing, few ask these questions in regard to animals. In recent times, the topic of using animals for the benefit of artistic expression has gained a great deal of both popularity and controversy, while non-human death in the context of natural history has been largely seen as a necessary evil in the search for knowledge. Within the museum space, animals are altered into visual representations of their living selves, while the fact that all these renditions of life, holding nothing but death, have been mostly ignored. Now that we are starting to understand that protecting living animals as well as ethically sourcing dead ones is a vital part of preservation, we also need discussions of when death is justified as an educational tool, and when alternative techniques and materials should be implemented.