Storm Erupts Over Bull Slaughtering
Animal rights campaigners are calling for the cancellation of a performance in Australia by the Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch, one of the founding members of the Viennese Actionists. The event in question, which is scheduled to take place in Tasmania on 17 June, will involve the slaughtering of a bull before the performance begins. Actors and an orchestra will then use the animal carcass to stage a “bloody, sacrificial ritualâ€, according to the website of Dark Mofo, an
annual music festival organised by the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). On 18 April the activist group Animal Liberation Tasmania launched an online petition on Change.org asking the city of Hobart to block the performance because it “trivialises the slaughter of animals for human usage, and condemns a sentient being to death in the pursuit of artistic endeavoursâ€. At the time of writing, the petition had been signed by over 6,000 supporters.
