Piglets stolen after being left to starve to death in controversial Danish art exhibition
The artist said on Wednesday that the three pigs were stolen as part of a controversial art exhibition in Denmark.
Chile-born Marco Evaristti said his goal is to raise awareness of the suffering caused by large-scale meat production through the art installation that opened in Copenhagen last week. The piglets were deprived of food and water and would be allowed to starve to death.
But Evaristti’s unexpected twist shows that the piglet, known as Lucia, Simon and Benjamin, was taken away by an animal rights activist assisted by his friend Caspar Steffensen.
Emil Nicolai Helms/AP
“So, I reported on Saturday that the piglet was stolen, so I had to close the entire exhibition – so when Caspar told me on Tuesday that he was suspected of theft, I was very disappointed.”
He added: “But then I thought about it for hours and realized that at least such piglets would lead a happy life.”
Copenhagen police confirmed on Wednesday that reports that “pigs have been stolen from the exhibition” have been received.
Evaristti’s “The Exhibition Now and You Care” involves a temporary cage made from a shopping cart with three piglets. The purpose of the art installation is to raise awareness of the trend of modern Danish pig production, he said.
Emil Nicolai Helms/AP
Danish welfare group animal protection group said that the Danish pig industry breeds sows to produce about 20 piglets at a time, but only 14 nipples, forcing piglets to compete for breast milk, causing hunger for many people.
However, several animal rights groups expressed concern about Evaristti’s exhibition, saying that while they welcomed the initiative to raise awareness, they would not tolerate abuse of animals.
Stephenson said he would not allow the three animals to suffer painful deaths after his 10-year-old daughter begged him to “make sure the pigs don’t die.”
“So, when I was exposed to militants to help animals release animals, I secretly brought them into the gallery Saturday,” Stephenson told the Associated Press.
Emil Nicolai Helms/AP
He said he was not the one who initially intended to tell Evaristti to remove the pig, but the covert operation was made public when animal advocate group De Glemte Danske said in a statement online Tuesday that it had rescued the piglet.
Evaristti said he is already developing a way to resume the exhibition. One idea is to steal the dead piglet from the meat processing plant and present it to the public. He also wanted to buy three other piglets – not starve to death, but to auction the highest bidders, assuring them a happy life.
“I’ve received a lot of hate messages from all over the world – I don’t think people get my art about animal rights,” Evaristti said.
