One of the most audacious suggestions ever to emerge in our dialogue with senior Government figures is that they overlook the potential for zoo and aquarium sites to act on their behalf as a gateways, not only into the world of wildlife, science, the environment as a whole, community engagement, etc, but actually as gateways into… well, just the rest of the world in every sense.
Our zoos do after all increasingly physically model themselves on a zoogeographic basis. “Now you are entering Africa, Asia, South America… or here is the desert zone of the world, and over there the waterlands” We make increasing references to the human cultures sharing eco-systems with the species we present, also sometimes to geo-physical features, even to cultural and economic factors. Our zoos also talk more and more on site about their projects overseas which clearly embrace human cultural need and human socio-economic situations. Chester Zoo’s Assam project and Bristol’s Cameroons partnership are two that come to mind ( forgive me if I more easily reference zoos with whom I am most familiar, and I would love to hear of further examples…?)
In the past of course some zoos actually ‘exhibited’ indigenous peoples and their cultures, a practice that was at best patronising and sometimes actually verged ( or merged) into outright racism with fascist overtones. Yet representatives of various cultures around the world still travel to other nations all the time to perform in theatres ( Shaolin monks, Masai dancers, Whiring Dervishes, etc) . So where exactly does the concept of ‘zoo exhibit’ end , and a ’stage’ begin…?
Here’s the point. Where else does one find large physical sites, attended by millions of people from all backgrounds, which in one sense or another purport to offer some sort of authentic facsimle, some new understanding of what the rest of our planet looks and feels like, of the problems faced not just by animals, but by people, of the culture, geology and economics of the matter? Surely in this globalist era , when we all hang together or hang separately, this is an important offer?
Yes, I know there are such things are ethnographic, ( and geophysical, cultural , etc) museums and information centres. They do great work, and we should never knock our collegeaues in such areas, but rather learn from them. The problem is , compared to our millions, their audience is relatively small and circumscribed, because their subject matter is simply not as compellingly vivid to a very broad audience.
So if the Governments of developed nations want to talk to their citizens about the interdepedence of global society and the problems faced by Asia, South America and Africa, should they be thinking of doing so in part through zoos, nature sites and aquaria..?
Or, is that just a ridiculous idea…?
John
