National Trust pelts replaced by anti-hunting exhibit
Nunnington Hall’s animal skins make way for 5,000 fake rhino horns that give visitors a moral dilemma
THE National Trust has replaced a collection of tiger, lion and leopard skins at one of its historic houses with an art installation that aims to highlight the “uncomfortable” issue of trophy hunting.
For years the skins have greeted visitors arriving at Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire. They were shot in the Twenties by the home’s former owner, Col Ronald D’arcy Fife, while he served with the Yorkshire Regiment in Africa and India.
However, the trust has invited a contemporary artist to install works at Nunnington “in response” to the trophies.
In place of the animal skins, which have been removed for cleaning and repair, will be a display of 5,000 tiny porcelain sculptures in the shape of rhinoceros horns. The exhibition is entitled Change in Attitudes.
The horns represent the 5,000 black rhinos left in the wild. Visitors are invited to take one home free, but face a moral dilemma designed to make them consider animal conservation and the Earth’s dwindling resources.
A message on the wall reads: “You are being presented with a choice: take a trophy for yourself, knowing that everybody who makes the choice leaves less for others to experience, or experience the installation and leave it complete for all who follow you.”
The artist, Layla Khoo, took inspiration from a black rhino horn once kept in Col Fife’s collection.
Other works in the house include wall-mounted panels featuring lion, tiger and rhino footprints, taken from the animal enclosures at the nearby Flamingo Land zoo.
John Oma-ormstein, the National Trust’s director of culture and engagement, said: “There are plenty of objects in National Trust houses that can feel out of place and uncomfortable, even shocking, to today’s visitors. We want to take a thoughtful look at what these objects mean to people today.”
Jonathan Wallis, Nunnington’s curator, said: “We don’t condone Col Fife’s actions or collecting such trophies, but by displaying his collection uncensored we can enable visitors to consider its effects – even though big game trophies can be difficult for people to view now.”