'Stop exploiting animals': Vegans slam Australian museum for controversial art exhibition which shows a 'deconstructed rabbit'
- An Australian museum has come under fire for a controversial art exhibition
- Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania, will display 'Eat the Problem' next month
- The interactive display is by American contemporary art curator Kirsha Kaechele
- Image of deconstructed rabbit shared to MONA's instagram has been slammed
An Australian museum has come under fire for a controversial art exhibition which shows a 'deconstructed' rabbit torn to pieces and laid out on a table.
MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, in Hobart, Tasmania, will next month open its doors for the 'Eat the Problem' exhibition which includes a recipe for a 'boar's eye Bloody Mary' and 'myna bird parfait'.
But the interactive display by American contemporary art curator Kirsha Kaechele has already been slammed online for its confronting imagery.
When MONA posted a deconstructed rabbit to Instagram on Tuesday, the social media platform decided to censor the post due to the 'sensitive content'.
An Australian museum has come under fire for a controversial art exhibition which shows a deconstructed rabbit (pictured)
When MONA posted the deconstructed rabbit to Instagram on Tuesday, the social media platform decided to censor the post due to the 'sensitive content'
The post was then inundated with comments slamming the display.
'What the hell is this? Stop exploiting animals, live in line with your morals, go vegan!' one viewer commented.
'Not art. Disturbed mind. Disgusting,' wrote another.
Share this article
'Just made my mind up on whether or not to take the kids to Mona on our Tassie holiday,' another viewer commented.
Other viewers defended MONA and criticised Instagram for censoring the image.
'Who the f*** made this sensitive content? Do you go to the grocery store and turn your eyes away from the meat cabinet?' one person wrote.
Pictured: American contemporary art curator Kirsha Kaechele who created 'Eat The Problem'
The post was inundated then inundated with comments slamming the display
One viewer suggested the exhibition made her decide to not visit MONA with her family
'I think it's art! People are so far withdrawn from their food source that I think they sometimes forget where it comes from,' commented another.
'It's an important reminder not to take what you eat for granted.'
The museum has defended the display, claiming it's important to be more sustainable with the use of animal product.
'This image is part of Eat the Problem, an art book and exhibition that proposes eating invasive species,' Ms Kaechele said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.
'We know it's not for everyone, but eating or finding other uses for an animal that wreaks havoc on the native environment is more sustainable than simply culling them, and far more sustainable than the meat most people eat.'
'It is interesting that chicken nuggets - the embodiment of animal suffering and environmental degradation - appear on billboards across cities and no one makes a fuss.'
Many viewers wrote it was not art but rather 'trash' and 'disgusting'
Ms Kaechele acknowledged the deconstructed rabbit had been censored in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
'But this one, which is just the scraps left over from the same invasive rabbit dish, is getting censored all over the place!' she wrote with the controversial image.
'It just got banned by the Republic Tower art space in Melbourne for being 'over the top'.'
'Meanwhile they serve cow in the restaurant downstairs - an actual ethical issue. Not to mention the chicken nuggets billboard up the street.'
The exhibition, which will open in MONA on April 13, will engage viewers in various acts of transformation.
Ms Kaechele said: 'Eat the Problem brings to life the practice of transforming sh*t into gold through a delightfully experimental and confronting, but outrageously glamourous, feast for the senses.'
The exhibition coincides with the launch of Ms Kaechele's Eat the Problem book which was published on March 25 (pictured)
'Visitors taste colour, feel sound vibrations and participate in movement and music. Eating their way through the experience they leave transformed and inspired, with a deepened appreciation of systems-based sustainable thinking'.
The exhibition coincides with the launch of Ms Kaechele's Eat the Problem book which was published on March 25.
Inspired by global cuisines, the book focuses on turning Australia's biggest pests into delicious meals.
The 544-page book is colour-coded based on species, and works through recipes ranging from sweet and sour cane toad legs, whole roasted camel, fox tikka masala, fried grasshopper and 'pussycat Tasmanian style'.
The book costs $277.77 and the funds raised will go towards Ms Kaechele's 24 Carrot healthy eating program in Hobart primary schools.
