PIG MOURNING CEREMONY

performance, digital storytelling
may – dec 2021

artists:
iryna zamuruieva
elliot hurst

commissions/collaborations:
uroboros festival
UNFIX
just wondering…


 

for this intervention, the artists convened a mourning ceremony for the pigs that have died as a result of the African Swine Fever (ASF) pandemic. in the past two years, as this pandemic spread through East Asia and Europe, well over 100 million pigs have either lost their lives directly due to the virus or been killed as part of virus suppression efforts. the exact number will never be known. the session navigated cultural practices of memorial and ritual, to craft a mo(nu)ment to these pigs and their relations.

this work was developed as part of the 🐖 PIG RESPONSE PROJECT 🐖 – a curatorial initiative for practicing careful pig-human relations which was set up in response to the ASFV pandemic affecting pigs all over the globe, and now works as an ever-branching-off space for artistic and empathetic research, and down-to-earth porcine speculation.

other work produced as part of the pig response project includes the antiviral pig pod, audio conversations exploring pig-human relations, and where are the pigs? African Swine Fever in deadly assemblages, a short film exploring exploration and commemoration of a deadly pig pandemic and the lives it touched.