FIG. 6 (above):
Objects on a table in Tom
Joyce’s home offi ce.
Photo © Tom Joyce Studio archive.
FIG. 7 (above):
Kabre blacksmiths Kao Kossi
and Ide Essozimna forging
an initiation gong called
ekpande.
Tcharé, Togo, 2010.
Photo © Tom Joyce.
Noëlle Ghilain: You have a degree in zoology
from the University of Würzburg in Germany,
and you spent nearly fi ve years working for the
Weltvogelpark Walsrode (Walsrode World Bird
Park) and its foundation. What brought you to
where you are now?
Steffen Patzwahl: In 1992, I met Éric Domb when
he was visiting the Weltvogelpark Walsrode.
There was an immediate connection. We had
the same dreams and the same aspirations. Éric
was a businessman who dreamed of adventure,
of nature, and especially of sharing his love for
130
and even a group of Tasmanian devils, to mention
only a few of the endangered animals with which
our campaign to save such threatened species is
concerned.
N.G.: Would it be appropriate to say that this
represents a child’s dream come true?
S.P.: Yes, absolutely. I had the good fortune
of having parents who never tried to curb
my ambition or my interest in nature and in
museums. They always let me follow my instincts,
even when that could only happen at their
expense. One day I brought home an old bear
skin. Its huge gaping open mouth fascinated me.
A few hours later the dog was scratching himself
vigorously. My mother was worried, began to
look around the house, and soon realized that
my latest treasure was infested with fl eas and
creatures of all kinds.
Today, working side by side with Éric as
the keeper of these animals and as a curator
of exhibitions is a real joy. Pairi Daiza does a
beautiful job of bringing together fl ora, fauna,
and culture. In some ways, we have remained
children, the only difference being, of course, that
the cost of our games has gone up a bit.
N.G.: You have been a natural historian for
your entire life. When did your passion for non-
European art develop?
S.P.: It was a very gradual transition. I can
truly say of myself that I am a “born” natural
historian. As a little boy, I began to observe birds,
which were my fi rst passion. I started by picking
up and then collecting eggshells and feathers.
When I visited the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, I
discovered the ornaments of the Native Americans
and of the New Guineans. The latter used
bird-of-paradise feathers for their adornment.
I immediately wanted to understand why they
used certain kinds of feathers for certain kinds of
pieces.
N.G.: What was the fi rst object that was really
important to you?
S.P.: Along with bird feathers, I also collected
fossils and ancient stones. When I was just seven
years old, two of my friends and I found a fairly
massive stone that fi t perfectly into a human
hand. We took it to our school and our teacher
FIG. 8 (facing page, bottom
left): Reconstitution of a
Tamberma village from Togo
at Pairi Daiza.
FIG. 9 (facing page, bottom
right): Detail of a decorative
mural in the Tamberma
village at Pairi Daiza.
TRIBAL people
animals. He had the necessary means and I had
acquired experience with the animal world. It
was really almost just as a natural result of that
that we got together to buy the Cistercian Abbey
of Cambron-Casteau and co-founded the park
that at the time was called Paradisio on that land.
The park was renamed in 2010 and became the
Pairi Daiza, which in Persian means the “closed
garden,” or the “orchard protected by walls.”
It is an expression which evokes what is most
beautiful and pure—a place where people live
in happiness. Today, the park is home to more
than fi ve thousand animals, including three giant
pandas, two white tigers, orangutans, gorillas,
FIG. 6 (below):
Group of skull trophies.
Naga, eastern India or
Myanmar.
FIGS. 7a–c (facing page right,
top row):
Various closeup shots of
objects around the house: a
group of korwars from the
Papua Province, Indonesia;
turtle carapaces; and an
Aboriginal shield from
Australia.