Event Details

Join artist Catherine M. Stewart for a guided tour of Skin & Bones, a unique exploration of our complicated relationship with the animal world. Encompassing the museum’s scientific specimens and accessories from the clothing collections of Claus Jahnke and Ivan Sayers, Skin & Bones brings together the disciplines of natural science, fine art, and fashion design.

“His greatest desire was to know the difference between himself and the beast, and occasionally he became so absorbed in observing it that he truly believed he had sensed for a moment the nature of the creature’s existence.” Anton Reiser: A Psychological Novel by Karl Philipp Moritz: trans. by J.R. Russell

Says Catherine M. Stewart:
“My approach for the Skin & Bones project was to try to capture some of the haunting beauty of the museum specimens, to ‘touch’ the animal within us and, in so doing, shift our perception of nature and our connection to it. The inclusion of display cases of historical animal-sourced fashion accessories provides yet another link between non-human species and ourselves. My hope is that this exhibition will encourage reflection and discourse about our morally complicated relationship with the natural world and foster a more nuanced and balanced understanding of our collective responsibility for maintaining what remains of it.”