On Venus and Whale (GER)

Roughly one hundred years lie between two  events that have left lasting traces in Swedish cultural history. One of them still grants visitors access to its body, while the other was dismantled after three months of display. Using the example of «Malmska Hvalen», the world’s only prepared blue whale, from 1865 and the sculpture «Hon-en Katedral», which was designed and built in 1966 at the Moderna Museet by Niki de Saint-Phalle in Stockholm, this lecture compares and questions two narratives of immersive bodies in a museum environment. 

 Whilst the whale in Gothenburg opens its mouth to visitors every year and has become a symbol of the city, it also embodies a scientific tradition that bear witness to man’s presumed domination over nature. A tradition whose effects are increasingly being scrutinised and which can be illustrated in part by the presentation of taxidermied animals in natural history museums.

With «Hon-en Katedral», the artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, and collegues, attempted to challenge the male dominated hierarchies of the art world. The 23.5 metre-long, room-filling sculpture depicted a reclining, divine, pregnant and female body. Like the taxidermied whale, the colourfully painted round shapes were constructed with the support of wooden and wire structures. It was entered through the vagina and once inside, visitors were greeted by a milk bar, a cinema, a slide and a miniature exhibition. 

What narratives and power dynamics become visible through the constructions, experiences and existences of these two particular bodies?  How can the great resonance be analysed and what impact do such body constructions have in our increasingly digital world?