From the Human Archive Center Series: “Nénette”

From two speakers mounted on a stainless steel plate that also functions as a sound reflector, audio recorded in front of the enclosure of an orangutan named Nénette is played. Born in Borneo, Nénette has spent over fifty years at the zoo inside the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Children point at her and ask, “Is Nénette the same as me?”  “Nénette came here in 1972,” they say, growing excited over her every small movement, though she hardly moves anymore. At the entrance to the exhibition room, a sign reads, “Silence for the animals.” Unable to stop the recording, I step outside the exhibition room and encounter a keeper locking Nénette’s cage. Numerous keys hang from her waist, and with their jangling sound, she disappears into the distance. Perhaps that was me as well. The sounds archived in this work are fleeting for visitors, yet for Nénette they are moments that repeat endlessly.

Exhibition at
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
Roppongi Crossing 2025: What Passes Is Time. We Are Eternal.
Dec.3 2025 – Mar. 29 2026
https://www.mori.art.museum/en/exhibitions/roppongicrossing2025/index.html