| Animal Cruelty In The Name Of Art UPDATE: Peta talks about Natividad on their website. http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/04/artist_starving.php UPDATE: Taken from the United States Humane Society Webpage. Q. Is it true that a Central American artist used a starving dog in an art exhibit? We are aware of this story and have asked our contacts in Central America for more information. According to local animal welfare organizations, the dog was in a state of starvation when he was captured from the street for display in the exhibit. We have also been informed that the dog spent one day in the exhibit and later escaped the gallery. We do not condone the actions of this so-called "artist," and condemn the use of live animals in exhibits such as this. An animal welfare organization in Honduras, where the next art show will be held, is keeping close watch on the case and assures us that the artist will not repeat his objectionable exhibit. Sadly, thousands of street dogs in Central America are in as poor shape as this one. HSI works throughout the world to prevent the circumstances that allow such a tragic event to take place. We encourage you to learn more about our street animal welfare programs. *********************************** An "Artist" by the name of Guillermo "Habacuc" Vargas Jimenez (habacuc being his stage name) was in the Bienarte 2007 (art exhibit) in Managua, Nicaragua. He himself is from Costa Rica. There he displayed a very sick and starving stray dog. Habacuc named the dog "Natividad", (which means birth). He tied Natividad up under a sign he made on the wall entitled "Eres Lo Que Lees", "You Are What You Read". The letters were made of kibbles. Hundreds of visitors to the art exhibit passed by, a few animal lovers asked for the dog to be released but Vargas refused. Natividad died. Vargas won first prize for his display of art, which he says was to illustrate the real problem of stray dogs and to "sensitize" the people to their deaths. He has now been asked to participate in the upcoming "Bienal Centroamericana Honduras 2008", "Bienarte 2008 in Central America Honduras" that will be held in November 2008. Though there is a HUGE online petition to ban said "artist" he is still listed as one of the participants. for more info check these websites. Mr.Jaime Sancho the creator of the petition has a blog with all up to date info. Its in spanish and can be found here. http://www.ea6gk.org/ An english "mirror" to Jaime's site can be found here http://reiskeks-natividad.blogspot.com/ The petition to ban this artist is here. It's in spanish. http://www.petitiononline.com/13031953/ For the english translation of said petition please look here http://reiskeks-natividad.blogspot.com/2007/10/quick-babelfish-translation-of-spanish.html. And please check http://bp1.blogger.com/_p41p3qmEwXo/RxoKx2_KfFI/AAAAAAAAC5c/-ATGOpDmgQQ/s1600-h/Bildschirmfoto.png to see how to correctly fill out the form since there was apparently a coding error. It's suppose to translate to "Name:, Email:, City:, and Country:" Tags: guillermo habacuc vargas jimenez natividad birth animal cruelty abuse dog died death bienarte 2007 2008 art starved |