The Lost Rhino: The Natural History Museum Ponders Doomed Animal

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The Lost Rhino: The Natural History Museum Ponders Doomed Animal

This is a sponsored article on behalf of the Natural History Museum.

A woman looks into a white space where a projection of a rhino can be seen
Installation view of Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s The Substitute at the Natural History Museum © The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London

A new exhibition at the Natural History Museum brings visitors face to face with an animal already doomed to extinction.

The last male northern white rhinoceros died in 2018. Only two females remain. Once they're gone, so has the subspecies. Visitors to the Natural History Museum can learn more about this ill-fated animal (and themselves), at the free The Lost Rhino exhibition.

A taxidermy rhino on a black background
Taxidermy southern white rhino © The Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London, 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg explores how the idea of an animal can be more powerful than the animal itself. She has assembled four representations of the northern white rhinoceros, in a "contemporary cabinet of curiosities". Collectively, they raise questions about extinction, conservation, and just how much we value our fellow creatures.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a life-size projection of the rhino, entitled The Substitute. The artwork begins as scattered pixels, which coalesce to form a high-resolution picture of the rhino, before dispersing once more into nothingness. Informed by developments in AI, the virtual rhino becomes increasingly life-like as it explores its surroundings.

The famous sketch of a rhino by Durer, in black and white
The Rhinoceros', Albrecht Durer, Germany, c.1515 © The Trustees of the British Museum

Another exhibit conjures the famous 16th century illustration of a rhinoceros by Albrecht Dürer. The beautiful if imperfect sketch is still widely reproduced — the ultimate rhino meme. In this exhibition, a copy is displayed alongside numerous reproductions from the museum's collection of rare books.

It may, one day, be technologically possible to bring back the northern white rhinoceros, along with other extinct species. How might it be done? Should it be done? A film showing rhino heart cells, grown and beating in a dish, raises important ethical questions about humanity's manipulation of the natural world.

A close up of cardiac cells - a greyish textured image with few features
Cardiac cells made in the lab from preserved cells of Angalifu, the last male northern white rhino in the United States who died in 2015 © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

A fourth exhibit features a genuine southern white rhino, albeit a taxidermy specimen from the museum's stores. This is the closest subspecies to the northern white, and one that is itself threatened.

Each representation of the rhino is fascinating in its own right, but is ultimately imperfect. These are simulacra, created by humans for the consumption of humans. Ginsberg wants us to question the deep meaning of this. Are we more wrapped up in the idea and imagery of the rhino, than the actual beast itself? Does the rhino in some sense live on, even if no biological animals remain? The Lost Rhino is one of the most thought-provoking exhibitions you'll see about conversation, extinction and the ways we humans make sense of the natural world around us.

The artist stands in front of the rhino projection
The artist and her projection of the rhino. (c) The Trustees of the Natural History Museum

The Lost Rhino is at the Natural History Museum's Jerwood Gallery from 16 December 2022 to 19 March 2023. Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.

Last Updated 18 January 2023