Extinct in the Wild

Curated by Michael Wang

Conceived by American artist Michael Wang (b. 1981), Extinct in the Wild brings together flora and fauna that are no longer found in nature, but persist exclusively in artificial habitats and under human care. Labelled with the officially designated term “extinct in the wild”, these species have been forced to leave nature behind, entering fully into the circuits of human culture.

In Extinct in the Wild, natural beings such as plants and animals are transplanted into an exhibition and cultural space. In the age of extinction, such displacements are not only aesthetic devices but stand for actual strategies of survival.

The exhibition is completed by a series of 20 photographs, taken by Michael Wang from 2014 to the present day, which portray different extinct-in-the-wild species and the original habitats where they lived prior to their extinction in nature.