Although homo sapiens long ago distanced himself from the animal world, he sometimes tends to forget that humans and non-humans belong to the same great whole: living things. Various endeavours, from domestication and observation to taxidermy and art, have sought to create links between these species, without ever completely eliminating any form of hierarchy.
Drawing a parallel between the fate of a naturalised mallard and that of ducklings abandoned in a hostile urban environment, Fanny Chiarello endeavours to speak, not for them, but for the animals. She reminds us that the human species is only one among many, although it enjoys the rare privilege of being the one “not stuffed”. Calling for a true coexistence that is not limited to an indifferent or even aggressive and intrusive neighbourhood, she questions our relationship with conservation and eternity.
She tests the accuracy of a language that infallibly conditions our thoughts and actions, like the notions of sensitivity and humanity, which seem implicitly to imply a form of human superiority.
