The First Pigeon Elections of Amsterdam.
[Work in Progress]
The Amsterdam Pigeon Elections ‘22 is a speculative project aimed at provoking critical thought on past and current domestication practices, excite incentive to redesign our cities for more harmonious accommodation of the pigeon and, above all, at finding empathy for our pigeon neighbours.
We have to start dealing with pigeon matters.
What if the pigeons had had a voice in their domestication by their human neighbours over the past thousands of years?
In these 1st pigeon elections, the birds can for the first time vote for the future of their own species. The 7 candidates all represent different possible pigeon-desires and -values related to problems encountered while living in a human-built city. Votes are cast by pooping on the ballot paper of their preferred candidate. This is a hint at how we will need to find different ways of looking at - and dealing with - pigeonshit, if we want to live together more harmoniously. Visitors of the Pigeon Election Exhibition will also be able to cast a vote, but only to find more empathy for the birds and their problems. The human votes will not count towards the outcome of the elections.
