FREIGHTED
500 years of collecting and exhibiting rhinos
from 02. July 2025
“Freighted” is the title of the exhibition, which was designed by South African artist Fritha Langerman and sent on tour around
the world. The transport crates that dominate the exhibition space become a symbol of the fate of the rhinos, which were shipped
to Europe as exotic animals from their original habitats in Africa or Asia.
“Freighted” is illuminated from many different angles in this exhibition. On the one hand, it is about our view of the exotic, the foreign, which manifests itself in the rhinoceros and its depictions. It is also about the history of collecting and our self-image with regard to researching and exhibiting dead animals. But it is as well about our empathy towards rhinos, which have been torn from their natural habitat and social environment by humans and taken to alien lands.
The texts and film sequences in the boxes address our view of the world and the relationship between humans and animals, which is in an existential crisis. This exhibition is intended to help us reflect on our approach to and treatment of popular but endangered animal species. It is enriched by specific topics that we are engaged with at the NHM Vienna, such as nature conservation research and initiatives against wildlife crime.
Let the exhibition inspire you and give you food for thought. Risk a look beyond the exotic, scientific, and colonial attributions of rhinos to their role as fascinating but highly endangered fellow creatures on our common Earth.
“Freighted” is illuminated from many different angles in this exhibition. On the one hand, it is about our view of the exotic, the foreign, which manifests itself in the rhinoceros and its depictions. It is also about the history of collecting and our self-image with regard to researching and exhibiting dead animals. But it is as well about our empathy towards rhinos, which have been torn from their natural habitat and social environment by humans and taken to alien lands.
The texts and film sequences in the boxes address our view of the world and the relationship between humans and animals, which is in an existential crisis. This exhibition is intended to help us reflect on our approach to and treatment of popular but endangered animal species. It is enriched by specific topics that we are engaged with at the NHM Vienna, such as nature conservation research and initiatives against wildlife crime.
Let the exhibition inspire you and give you food for thought. Risk a look beyond the exotic, scientific, and colonial attributions of rhinos to their role as fascinating but highly endangered fellow creatures on our common Earth.
