Songs in Paradise / 2011

This single piece suggests another angle of indifference: the historical taking of birds for their feathers and mounted forms, to satisfy status, fashion, avarice, scientific collecting, or wealthy acquisitiveness. The Huia, in this case, was hunted to extinction just over 100 years ago. Some of the blame for this pillaging must remain on the ornithological community (W. Buller, a prize culprit), and the tempting of Maori away from traditional conservationist thinking, into commercial hunting on behalf of white collectors.