LIGHT IN DARK PLACES:
Anti-Vivisection from the Victorian Era to Modern Day
May 10 - August 3, 2014
Suffragettes were not only pioneers in their fight for the right to vote but started the anti-vivisection movement in the Victorian era. The founders of the animal protection movement were known as “humanists,” and were active in many social justice arenas.
As the industrial revolution changed the world, medicine was also revolutionized, and the live experimentation on animals swept Europe and America. The opposition movement was born out of outrage at the unfettered animal experiments carried out by medical researchers and students alike.
Authors, artists, suffragettes, trade unions, doctors, lords and ladies alike joined the affray in voicing their opposition to animal experiments. Iconic writers such as Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw and Lewis Carroll penned seminal essays against vivisection.
Learn more about the anti-vivisectionists of yesteryear through current day in this retrospective, “Light in Dark Places,” which looks at the visionary individuals and organizations that brought and continue to bring the plight of animals in labs to the surface. Please note, this exhibition seeks to document the history of a social justice movement and is family friendly.
"Light in Dark Places" is curated by Julia Orr and involved the participation of American Anti-Vivisection Society, National Anti-Vivisection Society, New England Anti-Vivisection Society, Stop Animal Exploitation Now, PETA, Beagle Freedom Project, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, The Ernest Bell Memorial Library, and White Coat Waste.
We are grateful for the following content contributors: Robert Ingersoll, Kim Stallwood and Drs. Gary Steiner, Diane Beers, Ray Greek and Hilda Kean.
JOIN US FOR A VICTORIAN-INSPIRED
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, May 10, 2014
with special guests:
*Elaine Hendrix, actress and animal advocate
*Bob Ingersoll, primatologist featured in 'Project Nim'
*Shannon Keith, Beagle Freedom Project founder
*Simone Reyes, "Running Russel Simmons" reality star
VIP Reception 6 pm
$50 non-members │ $40 members
Includes inspired spirits and delectable morsels.
Victorian photobooth and other entertainment!
General Reception 7 pm
$20 non-members │ $10 members
Enjoy vegan fare, a no-host bar, and special guest presentations.
SCREENING: PROJECT NIM
Sunday, May 11, 2014
7:30 pm
Includes Q&A with primatologist Bob Ingersoll!
$8 non-members │ $5 members
From the Oscar®-winning team behind “Man on Wire,” PROJECT NIM tells the story of the chimpanzee who was the focus of a landmark experiment to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Combining recent testimony from key participants with dramatic imagery and newly discovered archival film from the 1970s, the feature documentary follows Nim’s extraordinary journey through human society, chronicling his enduring impact on the people he meets.
Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and based on the book “Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human,” by Elizabeth Hess, PROJECT NIM is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal that science tried to make human. What it reveals about his true nature – and humanity’s – is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.
Learn more and watch the trailer here.
Bob Ingersoll is a primatologist who developed a close bond with a special chimpanzee named Nim. In the 1970's, Nim was used in some of the first experiments to teach chimps sign language. As he grew older, he became harder to manage and was moved to a research facility where he was languishing until her met Robert Ingersoll. Ingersoll took Nim for eight-hour hikes every day; they chatted about their surroundings, went fishing and picked berries.
Join us on SUNDAY, May 11th for a special screening of "Project Nim," the documentary about Nim's life, and a Q&A with Bob Ingersoll.
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