Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds of Paradise
The following footage of Greater Birds of Paradise, courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, will be shown in the upcoming exhibition.
The video will be displayed next to the cabinets displaying the bird of paradise millinery skins (see above) and hats. This juxtaposition of life and death will hopefully get visitors to think about the journeys and transformations the birds’ have gone through moving from their natural habitats in New Guinea to a clothing and textiles collection in Alberta, Canada. It will also help to highlight the current plight of birds of paradise who are said to be on flight to oblivion due to a black market trade in their skins and habitat destruction through New Guinea’s contemporary exports in coffee, timber, copper and gold.
Greater Bird of Paradise (Paradisaea apoda).
Video: Curtesy The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Location: Indonesia, Maluku
Camerman: Timothy G Laman
Fashioning Feathers... 