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"Strange Creatures: The art of unknown animals" was a 2015 exhibition that explored how imagery has been used to bring newly discovered animals into the public eye.
When new regions are explored and the species in them are discovered, how does the wider world experience these animals? By examining the world of animal representations, Strange Creatures: the art of unknown animals explored how imagery has been used to bring newly discovered animals into the public eye. From the earliest days of exploration, visual depictions in artworks, books, the media and even toys have been essential in representing exotic creatures that are alien to people at home.
The Kongouro from New Holland (Kangaroo), George Stubbs, 1772 © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Strange Creatures centred on George Stubbs’ painting of a kangaroo, which was created following Captain Cook’s first Pacific “Voyage of Discovery”. It is Europe’s first painting of an Australian animal and became the archetype for how people imagined this iconic species for decades. This painting was saved for the nation when Royal Museums Greenwich raised the funds to keep it in the UK.
Strange Creatures from many angles
Palaeontologists and historians of science, exploration and art from across UCL investigated the theme of animal representation from the perspective of their own disciplines to create a diverse exhibition among the Museum’s permanent displays. Strange Creatures represented a chance to see Stubbs’ artwork among other animal depictions from the time of their earliest European encounters.
Strange Skins: Taxidermy as animal representation: Two taxidermy platypus specimens highlighting the different quality of preparation of taxidermy specimens.
The art & craftivism of representing extinct and endangered animals. Art historian Sarah Wade shares her research on alternative taxidermy by using artist Ruth Marshall's work of knitted skins (here a Thylacine) made from observations of pelt specimens in museums.
Models in Museums: Specimens are displayed in museums as representations for their entire species, but sometimes animals cannot be portrayed by their own remains. Museums use models in their place.
Contrary to the general views of nature by Margot Finn, UCL History. Watkin Tench's (1758-1833) account of the first western encounters of kanagroos is outlined including the these aboriginal hunting clubs (UCL Ethnography Collections, LDUEC-D13, LDUEC-D14)
Annoucing the olinguito: In 2013 a new member of the raccoon family, the olinguito, was announced. The press conference of the publication of the journal formally describing the species was timed, to the minute, with simultaneous press conferences in Washington, North Carolina and Ecuador. The journalists present were even given toy olinguitos.
Cook and the kangaroo: Outlining Captain James Cook's voyage abord the Endeavour. Directions for sailing from the harbour of Halifax to Quebec (UCL Library Special Collections, MS ANGL 7) and The Death of Captain Cook, 1784, Etching and engraving (UCL Art Museum 9921).
Dinosaurs in popular culture: In art, literature, film and video games, dinosaurs are still often inaccurately reconstructed according to outdated 19th century representations.
There's something fishy about this dragon by Simon Werrett, UCL Science and Technology Studies. There was money to be made by sailors selling unusual specimens to eager naturalists. Fakes abounded. By drying a skate or ray cut in a certain way, the fish could be given the appearance of a baby dragon, called a 'Jenny Haniver'.
Truth and lions by Andrea Fredericksen, UCL Art Museum. In the early modern period (roughly 16th-19th century) there was a fascination with rare and exotic animals like lions. However, few artists in northern Europe had the opportunity to study such species in the flesh. This inevitably resulted in anatomical inaccuracies.
Updating the dinosaur by Andrew Cuff and Anjali Goswami, UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment. The first dinosaur discoveries presented scientists with animals unlike anything alive today, using modern imaging and engineering tools scientists are able to create more accurate reconstructions than in the 19th Century.
The story of how the first European encounter came to be was also explored - if Cook's ship hadn't wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1770 the relationship between Europe and Australian wildlife could have been very different. One of Cook's own hand-written journals was on display along with animal artworks created by people who had never seen these animals in the flesh – including a 16th century copy of Dürer’s famous armoured rhinoceros, medieval accounts of exotic creatures, fake “dragon” specimens created from dried fish by sailors, contemporary knitted “taxidermy” and 21st century reconstructions of dinosaurs. Together they explored how unknown animals are communicated to the wider public.
Events programme
We invited adults and families to delve deeper into the themes of Strange Creatures with a programme of events that accompanied the exhibition including film night, late opening, open mic night, talks, drawing sessions and a knitathon.
People behind Strange Creatures
The exhibition was curated by Jack Ashby (Grant Museum of Zoology).
Contributing researchers:
- Chiara Ambrosio, Joe Cain and Simon Werrett (UCL Science and Technology Studies)
- Andrew Cuff and Anjali Goswami (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment)
- Bob Mills and Sarah Wade (UCL History of Art)
- Misha Ewen and Margot Finn (UCL History)
Travellers' Tails
The exhibition was the first stage of a tour of the Stubbs painting in which it travelled to The Horniman Museum and Gardens; The Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby; and the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow.
It formed part of a collaboration between these three museums, the Grant Museum and the National Maritime Museums in a project called Travellers' Tails.
The project brought together artists, scientists, explorers and museum professionals to investigate the nature of exploration in the Enlightenment era, how the multitude of histories can be explored and experienced in a gallery, heritage and museum setting, and to question what exploration means today. Travellers' Tails is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund.
“It’s not only historic artworks which mis-portrayed these amazing species but we also see it in the practice of taxidermy, where skins were shipped back to Europe and fleshed-out to recreate the animal based on a few notes. It’s also true of modern dinosaur toys, which have been copying outdated images of fossil species for over a century”
Jack Ashby, Museum Manager and Strange Creatures Curator.