What it Means to Hunt: Reflections on Nasan Tur’s Hunted Exhibit in Berlin
Ada Lambert | November 15, 2023
In May 2023, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to go to Berlin, Germany for two weeks. In that time, I visited all kinds of art museums from many important art movements. Nearing the end of my trip, my class went to visit the Berlinische Galerie, a contemporary art museum that featured new and innovative exhibits unlike any other place we had gone.
When I entered the first exhibit, I had no idea what I was walking in to. From the outside, it appeared to be a huge, empty space with no description or signage. Then came the strange, sudden realization — there were dead animals on the floor.
They laid sad and frail against the gray concrete underneath them. They were taxidermied of course, but it did not stop the sickened feeling from rising in my throat. I did not know what to think. How could this be art? What did it mean?
As I ventured towards the connected room, I noticed large drawings of hand shadows shaped as animals on the walls. Suddenly, I, the observer, was no longer in charge. The creatures were now dominating the space. They owned it.
That’s when I entered a tiny space in the corner of this room. On a loop, there was a TV and on it was a series of interviews that the artist, Nasan Tur, conducted with people who participate in the hunting of animals. These people were anonymus, only their lower body was filmed. This allowed for the viewers, such as myself, to interact with the body language while they talked.
It was fascinating.
This exhibit was so impactful for me because I had never seen art that captured the feeling I had growing up in rural New Jersey, where hunting is incredibly popular. I was raised around it; most of the men in my family went out on the weekends together and would spend hours and hours in the forest.
On the other hand, my mother taught me to care for animals, no matter what it was. As a young girl, I would bring home injured birds, baby bunnies, chickens, and the occassional turtle. We were good at rehabilitating these animals, who were often injured by neighborhood cats and turkey buzzards.
So, the first time my dad took me out into the woods to hunt with him, I froze. I cried. Only then had I realized what it meant to kill. I did not want to go hunting, and I never did again.
The exhibit was so thought-provoking for me, having grown up around hunters without being one. Many of the interviews noted a feeling of control that comes from the act of killing. Some described that it was a place to take out their rage. One man quit hunting altogether after he became power-hungry and eager to spill blood.
Tur’s exhibit breaks this complex topic down into consumable art in a way that furthered my opinions about hunting. In light of this experience, I can say that while I do not agree with hunting, I now understand better why people fall into this cycle themselves. I also have never been in a situation where hunting is the way of survival.
It is circumstances in which incredibly wealthy people use hunting as a game to play that I do not understand.
When you are capable of taking an innocent life, in its own habitat, what else are you willing to do?
If you are interested in this exhibit and cannot afford the hefty plane ticket to Berlin to see it in person, click here for a collection photos and a walkthrough video of the ‘Hunted’ exhibit.