Simulated newspaper articles that link the narrative of Cecil John Rhodes and some of the last 19th century Northern White rhinos in multiple ways.
In 2023 there are only two northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) remaining. The last male, Sudan, died in Kenya in 2018, leaving two remaining females in Kenya’s Ol Pejeta Conservancy. While sperm from Sudan was preserved, these females are no longer able to bear young. An international research project, BioRescue, has identified two wild southern white rhinos that could have embryos implanted and act as surrogate mothers. However, harvesting usable oocytes for this work has been challenging and at the Gamete Research Centre at the University of Antwerp, Ruth Appeltant and her team are working to produce eggs outside the body from stem cells. FREIGHTED will be exhibited at the University of Antwerp form September 2023-January 2024.
