'I SHOT THE LAST RHINO'
A requiem for wildlife in İstanbul
* Photos: Ali Cabbar/Yanköşe Project
The art project "I Shot the Last Rhino" by artist Ali Cabbar highlights the human destruction of wildlife on one of the busiest streets in İstanbul.
A public art project displayed on two walls on a street along the Bosphorus, the artwork is conceptualized as a monument, or even a requiem, to wildlife that is on the verge of extinction through human agency.
The site-specific project realized in urban space for Yanköşe, a non-profit contemporary art platform in İstanbul, consists of eleven canvases of animal heads displayed on 20-meter high walls.
Envisioned as a monument to all animals facing extinction, the work highlights the human destruction of wildlife through the concept of a hunter's game room. Brussels-based artist Ali Cabbar arranges the inverted walls of Yanköşe like a trophy room, and names his work after one of the three-meter portraits on the wall; that of the Northern White Rhinoceros which became extinct in 2018 due to illegal hunting for their horns.
The work of the artists is inspired by news of wild animals taking over the cities during the COVID-19 confinement, and by a series of massive bushfires that started at the end of last year in Australia and killed a record number of animals. Highlighting the fact that humans are themselves the future victims of their destructive behavior, Ali Cabbar includes his own mounted head on the wall with the other animals.
"I Shot the Last Rhino" is also conceptualized as a testament to the effects of the Anthropocene, the new geologic era in which human activities dominate the planetary machinery, and it seeks to persuade the viewer to reconsider the human-nature relationship in the light of a global health crisis.
About Ali CabbarAli Cabbar is a Brussels based mixed-media artist who addresses political and social issues in his work. Employing symbols and black humor, he uses a nondidactic narrative to provoke the viewer to search for what is hidden behind the obvious, and likes to combine digital and traditional techniques in innovative ways. In his recent research-driven projects, Cabbar delves into the effects of gentrification, political propaganda and environmental issues. His artist book, System Error, will be published later this year by Masa Yayınları. Cabbar's solo exhibitions include Eldorado at Fine Art Museum, Split (2019); Monster at Adas, Istanbul (2019), Ugly at Depo, Istanbul (2016); Placebo Effect at Operation Room, Istanbul (2015); Disquiet Shadow at Yapi Kredi Cultural Center, Istanbul (2010); Escape at Le Botanique, Brussels (2006). He has also participated in group shows, including Climbing Through the Tide at Kamel Lazaar Foundation's B7L9 project space, Tunisia (2019); YKB Collection Exhibition Helix, Turkey (2017); Animacall, Greece (2011); Memento Mori, The F.U.E.L. Collection, USA (2008); 13th International Festival of Computer Arts, Slovenia (2007); Rejection Episodes, Vooruit, Belgium (2006); Biennial International de Gravure IV, Musée d'Art Modern et d'art Contemporain, Belgium (2003). About Yanköşe projectYanköşe is a non-profit platform for art-in-public domain realized by Kahve Dünyası, the largest coffee chain of Turkey. It spread across an area of 260 square meter walls and provides a space of expression for two invited artists every year who produce experimental contemporary artworks. A Selection Committee of five people consisting of Kahve Dünyası executives Dilara Altınkılıç Kutmangil and Kaan Altınkılıç, art critic Evrim Altuğ, curator Fulya Erdemci and designer Bülent Erkmen assess the projects proposed by the artists. |
(SD)