STEFFEN PATZWAHL
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had the opportunity to travel a great deal. One of
my tasks was to plan for, maintain, and enlarge
a community of nine hundred species of birds.
The foundation was promoting and managing
a number of projects designed to sensitize local
populations to the fragility of their endemic
fauna in the Caribbean, Mallorca, the Dominican
Republic, Vietnam, Siberia, and even Alaska. In
the course of all of these travels, I never stopped
looking for objects that had a connection with
nature. I especially appreciate zoomorphic objects,
like this bell made of a turtle carapace. The Masai
used it to fi nd their goats or their cows in the bush.
N.G.: Art, cultural traditions, and, of course,
nature are all integral parts of the Pairi Daiza
experience. How do you select and manage the
presentation of the different “universes” you
represent there?
S.P.: An idea always starts with a trip. Éric and
I visit the places that seem to us to have the
greatest wealth of fauna, fl ora, and culture. In
each “universe” represented in the park, you will
fi nd animals that are emblematic of the region
they come from, but also sculptures, temples,
or traditional houses from there. The Ganesha
universe, for example, has a herd of about twenty
Asian elephants, fi gures of the elephant-headed
Hindu deity Ganesh, as well as a characteristic
Balinese temple, conceived of and constructed with
priests and local artists. We always work with local
craftspeople to ensure that we achieve the level of
quality that only their knowhow can provide.
At the moment, we’re moving forward with
a project devoted to Vancouver Island and the
Haida people, which we call Wilderness. We have
selected a number of emblematic animals, such
as bears, wolves, elk, and moose, as well as the
ravens that are central to First Nations mythology.
We have already met with several artists who will
create totem poles for us. They will not be old,
of course, but they will be made according to
cultural traditions that remain very much alive.
Things will get a bit more complicated the day
we decide to recreate the Inca universe, but we’ll
tackle those problems when we get there.
N.G.: What message would you like to express
about the future of humanity and its cultural
wealth?
FIGS. 10a–h (facing page, top
to bottom, by row):
Group of shrunken heads,
tsantsa, Jivaro, Peru; feather
currency, tevau and baravam
from the Santa Cruz Islands;
Abelam skull, Papua New
Guinea; birdstones, North
America, 1500–1000 BC;
white pelicans (Pelecanus
onocrotalus) at Pairi Daiza;
human skull with sacrifi cial
surface, Tibet; study model
of the carnivorous plant
drosera, 19th century; human
and crocodile (Crocodylus
porosus) skulls.
S.P.: There’s a Senegalese proverb that says, “One
protects what one loves, and one loves what one
knows.”
Our hope is that with this park, we will initiate
our visitors, both young and old, to a respect for
nature and its protection. When they participate
in a feeding session for our lemurs, for example,
they are moved and become immediately more
receptive. That is the right moment to articulate
a message promoting the values of respect
for nature. Our objective is to make people
understand the fragility of our ecosystem and the
importance of preserving it. Animals in captivity
are, in fact, ambassadors. Their presence and
often their beauty arouse a desire to protect
them. The same is true of culture, languages, and
customs. Here, in our “garden of the world,” we
have the opportunity and the responsibility to
sensitize our audience.
N.G.: Is that why you sell genuine dinosaur teeth
instead of reproductions?
S.P.: Having an authentic object in your hands,
one that is thousands of years old, is an incredible
experience. It’s an invitation to
explore that may lead people
to pursue careers in research or
perhaps to become collectors.
Curiosity and imagination are truly
among the most wonderful human
qualities.
FIG. 11 (above):
Group of skulls showing the
particular fascination this
collector has with them.
From left to right: Vili,
Gabon, 19th century; Mixtec,
Mexico, AD 1300–1521;
Sepik River, Papua New
Guinea, collected 1930.