Taxidermy, Longing, and Beastly Allure: An Illustrated Lecture with Rachel Poliquin, author of “The Breathless Zoo” and “Ravishing Beasts”

51j-gboarpl_ss500_An Illustrated lecture and book signing with Rachel Poliquin, author of The Breathless Zoo and the blog “Ravishing Beasts”
Date: Friday, August 17

Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by Morbid Anatomy
** Books will be available for sale and signing

In her new book The Breathless Zoo: Taxidermy and the Cultures of Longing, Rachel Poliquin-best known for her blog “Ravishing Beasts”-explores the cultural history and poetic resonance of taxidermy from its rudimentary beginnings in cabinets of wonder to its revival in contemporary art. From hunting trophies to extinct species and kitten weddings to perpetual pets, The Breathless Zoo examines the meaning and matter of preserved animal-things and why anyone would want them to exist, and attempts to get to the heart of taxidermy by answering two fundamental questions: why would anyone want to preserve an animal, and what is this animal-thing now? Animal or object? Animal and object. This is the irresolvable tension that defines all taxidermy. As The Breathless Zoo demonstrates, with taxidermy there are no easy answers.

Tonight, join Rachel Poliquin, author of The Breathless Zoo, for an illustrated lecture tracing the themes and content of her book. Copies of her book will also be available for sale and signing.

BIO: With a background in visual arts and the cultural history of science, Rachel Poliquin is a writer and curator dedicated to exploring all things orderly and disorderly in the natural world. Her recent projects have focused on the cultural history of taxidermy.  In 2009, Poliquin curated the exhibition “Ravishing Beasts: The Strangely Alluring World of Taxidermy” at the Museum of Vancouver, and in 2010, she wrote and designed the vertebrate exhibits for the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at the University of British Columbia. Poliquin also maintains the taxidermy blog www.ravishingbeasts.com.

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