Alfred

The Power of Naming

Today was my first visit to Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives. Today also marked my first 'close encounter' with our cousin great ape, the gorilla. Although I had seen the shadows of some sleeping apes in Beijing Zoo seven years back, this was the first time I saw one face to face, head to toe and in a distance no more than two feet away.

Now, I must also clarify that this great ape I saw was a specimen in the museum's wing exhibiting animals from the world. This was certainly not my first time seeing large taxidermied specimens on display in a museum but there was something special about this gorilla. It was named.

Alfred was his name. He came to the Bristol Zoo back before the second world war and was visited by many residences and tourists in the area. Alfred was an oddity at that time when gorillas were less understood and scientifically studied. He was quite an attraction and had aqquired nicknames as well during the wars. After Alfred died, his skin was mounted by a famed taxidermist and shown in the museum.

As I was reading the information panel, a family came into the room. The gentleman told his wife, 'Isn't he alive the last time I visited the zoo?' The lady exclaimed, 'Oh dear, it's a shame he died.' It was just like what was written on the panel of how people came to visit Alfred long after his passing, bringing their children and telling stories about him.

Personally, I think this is special. People do not talk about specimens in museum as if it is something alive very often. I had never seen Alfred back when he breathe and walked the zoo grounds, but through just knowing his name, reading about his history, how he came to Bristol, how he lived in Bristol and how he died suddenly made him so much alive to me. At once, from being just another specimen, just another mounted gorilla, this one became a person. He took on a personality. From an 'it' it has become a 'he' to many people including me.

The power of having a name, and knowing a brief history even if only an inanimate object can make such a profound difference on a very personal level.

Being an animator, I should learn how to imbune life into my creation which the audience initially knows nothing more than I did with the gorilla in the display case. When I leave, I had seen more than an ape, I had met someone, I had faced a celebrity. It was a wonderful experience.

~Written on 19 Jan 2008(Tues)
and here's a link to the said ape and museum. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/panoramas/museum6_360.shtml