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Okapi_fixedStop 3
00:00 / 03:51
We recommend focusing only on listening to the audio while using Taxidermy Talks in the museum. Feel free to explore the full site afterward
Transcript
You are about to listen to an imagined conversation between a Taxidermied Okapi head mounted in this display case and one living in the Congo - enjoy
Living Okapi: Hey you back there, where is the rest of your body? Your back half it’s missing.
Taxidermied Okapi: There’s no need to point it out—most people don’t even notice when they see me. But the truth is, when they brought me here, the man who prepared me, Carl Akeley found I was too large to fit inside the space they had built. I think they wanted me to stay close to the others, so the compromise was to keep at least my front half. It was their way of keeping me in the scene!
Living Okapi: I’m not so sure that was the only reason. It looks more like they used you to create the illusion of depth. You’re essential to the composition. They didn’t care about keeping you with the others. Heck, I wandered through the storage rooms of this place on the way up to you—they’re full of separated “others” no one ever sees. Without you, the forest wouldn’t feel as deep. Wouldn’t feel alive at all.
Taxidermied Okapi: I wonder what they did with my back half… Did you see that in storage?
Anyway, since you’re still out in the real forest, maybe you can help me with something. There’s this small chipmunk in here. It stares at me all day. I don’t ever remember seeing one before.
Living Okapi: I didn’t see your back half… I think they at least like to only keep whole species. It probably ended up in a landfill somewhere. And that chipmunk hidden in the painting— you don’t recognize it because it doesn’t belong. Chipmunks don’t live anywhere near where we come from. The whole forest you’re in doesn’t really exist either— it’s all paint and models. Remarkably accurate, based on careful human observation of our habitat— except for that chipmunk. Seems like whoever painted your background was having a little fun. It just shows that even in the most exact recreations, human artistic license still sneaks in.
Taxidermied Okapi: So I’m suspended between artistic representation and reality. What about you? What is life like for okapis outside this frame?
Living Okapi: I suppose I still carry a bit of the magic that draws people to your glass case. I’m elusive by nature, and for a long time, Western science didn’t even believe we existed – you became part of that proof, always offering yourself to be looked at but that's not your fault you don’t really have a choice. Even now, I rarely let myself be seen. But that doesn’t mean I’m safe. Hunters find me. The forest shrinks. It gets harder to remain out of sight when there's nowhere to go…
Taxidermied Okapi: How many of you are left?
Living Okapi: Scientists aren’t even sure. But the most recent estimates say fewer than a thousand.
Taxidermied Okapi: That's not very many. Maybe if viewers notice that I’m only half here, it might help them understand that in real life, your body, your habitat, your safety is fragmented too.
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