Rossella Biscotti @Rijksmuseum
November 16, 2022
Discover Rossella Biscotti’s installation Clara at the Rijksmuseum exhibition Clara the Rhinoceros.
The show explores the story and importance of Clara the Rhinoceros, which arrived in the Netherlands in 1741, when Dutch sea captain Douwe Mout van der Meer brought Clara to Amsterdam from India.
Biscotti’s installation Clara consists of three piles of brick that together weigh over 2700 kilograms, a pile of tobacco leaves, and a monetary value printed on vinyl and applied to the wall . Here Clara is represented in terms of her weight, the amount of food she was given, and her economic value symbolized by the bricks that were used by the VOC as ballast for their ships. 100,000 écu is the amount that the VOC captain Mout unsuccessfully tried to sell Clara to the French king for.
Clara the Rhinoceros is open until January 15, 2023 at the Rijksmuseum. Don’t miss it!