In August 2020 the container ship ‘Gulf Livestock 1’ departed from New Zealand carrying 5 867 dairy cows in it. By the time typhoon Maysak hit the Japanese coast and on the 2nd of September, the ship sank. Two of the 43 crew members were rescued. All of the 5 867 cows drowned. The cows were worth around 2 506 euro each, and 14,7 million euros altogether. The journey, destined to China, was meant to take 17 days.

According to SAFE, New Zealand animal rights organization, New Zealand exported almost 110,000 cows to China by sea in 2020. SAFE wrote an open letter to the New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and invoked the animal ethics and the public image of the country, demanding the live exports to be banned. In April 2021, New Zealand announced a ban on the export of living animals by sea to be instituted by 2023. 

Homage to 5 867 Cattle was a ten-day performance on 16.-26.9.2021, located in the Kosminen gallery, Helsinki. 

Homage to 5 867 Cattle was an act of penance, where I sculpted clay cows for ten days in honour of the perished cows. 

I lived and worked in the gallery, not leaving the space between 16.-26.9. I had 500 kilos of clay from which I formed the cows. 

The performance started on Thursday 16th of September at 9:00. The audience were welcome to visit and see the evolving artwork daily 9:00-20:00. 

The project was supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Graphic design by Erika Rustamova

Document video by Kameron