The Poo Museum
A museum dedicated to excrement with examples from
the animal and human world has opened to the public:
The exhibition at the Isle of Wight Zoo in the United Kingdom
features faeces from animals such as elks and lions as well as a human
baby.
The National Poo Museum has been created by members of the artist
collective Eccleston George.
“Poo is all around us and inside us, but we ignore it,” said
co-curator, Daniel Roberts.
Twenty illuminated resin spheres show off the different types of
faeces with facts hidden behind toilet lids on the museum walls.
Samples of faeces have been gathered from around the world as well as
donations received from the Isle of Wight Zoo and Dinosaur Isle museum.
The display also includes fossilised poo (coprolites) dating back 140
million years as well as a tawny owl pellet containing bones and teeth.
It also covers issues such as dog mess and the lack of access to
sanitation in developing countries. Nigel George, one of the
exhibition’s curators, said the subject “provokes strong reactions.”
“Small children naturally delight in it but later we learn to avoid
this yucky, disease-carrying stuff and that even talking about poo is
bad,” he said.
The exhibition is set to go on a tour of the UK.
“But for most of us, under the layers of disgust and taboo, we’re
still fascinated by it.”
The organisers prepared the faeces using a specially-built drying
machine - stick insect droppings were desiccated completely in about an
hour, while lions’ samples took a fortnight to dry out.
The attraction is on show at the Sandown zoo through the spring and
summer before going on tour.
-BBC
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