Tag: island

Moa hunters: The scene can be dated around 1300 AD. Moa-species depicted here are Emeus crassus on the left and Anomalopteryx didiformis on the right. There were 9 species of moa on New Zealand. Only 100 years after the arrival of the first humans, which happened at the end of the 13th century, no moas are found in the rubbish pits of their settlements anymore. One of many examples how fast populations of flightless birds endemic to islands collapse after the colonization by humans.
The traditional dog breed of the Maori called Kurī is also extinct, but other than moas they were still seen by the first european settlers in New Zealand. There are still museum specimens of them.

Acrylic and oil paint on panel, 2020

50 x 40 cm

The picture shows a male aboriginal Tasmanian, member of an ethnic group which faced a cruel genozide by european settlers during the 19th century. The last of them with pure Tasmanian descent, Fanny Chochrane Smith, died in 1905. Nonetheless there are still people around with partly native Tasmanian ancestry.
The man has dressed his hair with red ochre, which was common at the east coast of the island. The necklace is made from sea snails of the species Phasianotrochus bellulus, which was evidentially used by Tasmanians. Furthermore the tasmanians had very scantily clothing, not exceeding kangaroo fur. They didn’t know the art of tatooing, but scarification was done on parts of the body, like on the chest or shoulders.

For research I used the following publication: Gisela Völger: Die Tasmanier: Versuch einer ethnographisch-historischen Rekonstruktion; Wiesbaden, Steiner,1972

Oil paint on cardboard, 2017

29,5 x 21 cm

A dodo chick (Raphus cucullatus) is begging for food. Probably the dodo has feed his chicks with crop milk as their relatives, the pigeons, do. The dodo died out in the 17th century and today it’s one of the best examples for an exterminated animal. But it is only one of many birds that are lost in Mauritius.

Acrylic paint on paper, 2018

32 x 24 cm

Abschied von Marcus Burkhardt

Alles was schön ist, bleibt auch schön,
auch wenn es welkt.
Und unsere Liebe bleibt Liebe,
auch wenn wir sterben.
Maxim Gorki

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