Den kultiverade kajan

The central figure in this artwork is a crow – a Western jackdaw (Corvus monedula) to be more precise. Jackdaws can be found throughout Europe, in western Asia and in northern Africa. In Örebro, there are lots of them. They’re often perceived as disruptive in our lives. As the artist himself expresses it:

“We complain that crows are noisy and make a mess, that they quite simply live too close to us city dwellers. They go around in gangs, they yell and make noise, and they steal our French fries! [...] The clash between humans and nature is tangible, but it is also a reminder that city and nature, humans and animals, live side by side.

Maybe crows and people are actually quite similar. Just like us, the crows like the comforts of the city. They’re also social, intelligent, and quick to learn. Thierfelder Tzotzis has taken note of these human-like characteristics and let the crows emerge as cultural beings. One group watches TV curiously: on the screen, they see the Svartån River flow by outside Kulturkvarteret.

On the fourth floor, you can see three crows looking out over the city. The top one is holding a pencil in its beak. Another crow is perched on a stack of books from the library. Among the titles, we see a compilation of Henry David Thoreau’s journal notes on birds and Donna Haraway’s When Species Meet.