Leena Jokela

THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED #2 – THE DODO will be a study about how parts of skeleton of dodos have gone through a transformation from being a bird to highly valued objects at museums all over the world. The dodo was a bird that lived on Mauritius and had been extinct since the end of the 18th century. There where still a lot of dodos when Dutch sailors, among the first Europeans, arrived at the island, in the middle of the 17th century. This was a large bird which could not fly and had survived due to the fact it had no natural enemies. For the sailors the bird was an easy game in the search for fresh meat. In about 50 years the dodo was almost totally exterminated. Single specimens where shipped to Europe and you can se on paintings from the 17th century that artist had live dodos at models. In later paintings they used stuffed birds. Today all the original stuffed dodos are gone; the last one there is a record of was in bad condition and therefore destroyed in the 18th century. The stuffed dodos you can se today are all reconstructions and made from feathers from other birds. It was in the late 19th century the myth surrounding the dodo started to grow. In “Alice in Wonderland” the dodo plays an important part and in the Victorian England there was an interest in strange animals and objects. Through the years the dodo has transformed from a living creature to an icon and a myth. The dodo has been use commercially and you can for example see it in cartoons. Today there are a lot of people who do not believe the bird ever existed. In museums through the world there are remains of dodos. Most of them where found at Mare aux Songes, a marsh area on Mauritius. This was at the end of the 19th century when the interest for the bird was strong. The main part of the remains is kept in natural history museums in Great Brittan. The work with THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED #2 – THE DODO will start in 2006, when I will go to Great Brittan and visit the museums and look at how they present the dodo remains and make documentation. There are skeletons of dodos in other museums in Europe, USA, South Africa and on Zanzibar. I will visit these museums in a few years, but have decided to start with Great Brittan, since a large part of the remains are concentrated to this part of the world and also due to the fact that it was there the myth of the dodo was born.

THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED #2


	THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED #2 – THE DODO will be a study about how parts of skeleton of dodos have gone through a transformation from being a bird to highly valued objects at museums all over the world. The dodo was a bird that lived on Mauritius and had been extinct since the end of the 18th century. There where still a lot of dodos when Dutch sailors, among the first Europeans, arrived at the island, in the middle of the 17th century. This was a large bird which could not fly and had survived due to the fact it had no natural enemies. For the sailors the bird was an easy game in the search for fresh meat. In about 50 years the dodo was almost totally exterminated. Single specimens where shipped to Europe and you can se on paintings from the 17th century that artist had live dodos at models. In later paintings they used stuffed birds. Today all the original stuffed dodos are gone; the last one there is a record of was in bad condition and therefore destroyed in the 18th century. The stuffed dodos you can se today are all reconstructions and made from feathers from other birds. It was in the late 19th century the myth surrounding the dodo started to grow. In “Alice in Wonderland” the dodo plays an important part and in the Victorian England there was an interest in strange animals and objects. Through the years the dodo has transformed from a living creature to an icon and a myth. The dodo has been use commercially and you can for example see it in cartoons. Today there are a lot of people who do not believe the bird ever existed. In museums through the world there are remains of dodos. Most of them where found at Mare aux Songes, a marsh area on Mauritius. This was at the end of the 19th century when the interest for the bird was strong. The main part of the remains is kept in natural history museums in Great Brittan. The work with THESE OBJECTS HAVE BEEN REMOVED #2 – THE DODO will start in 2006, when I will go to Great Brittan and visit the museums and look at how they present the dodo remains and make documentation. There are skeletons of dodos in other museums in Europe, USA, South Africa and on Zanzibar. I will visit these museums in a few years, but have decided to start with Great Brittan, since a large part of the remains are concentrated to this part of the world and also due to the fact that it was there the myth of the dodo was born.