Opening // Yana Wernicke – Companions

Opening event 2 June 4 to 7 PM

Harbo Bar presents a selection from the series Companions by the Praised photographer Yana Wernicke. Her latest project persistently draws our attention in, shares rare and special moments of empathy and caring with animals that are called and kept as productive livestock. Yanas images offer a perspective, documenting situations that create a longing and a revelation. Instead of presenting familiar cuteness or horror, she leaves space for a poetic, possible reality. 

„Maybe humanity’s inarguable loneliness stems from the fact that we have forgotten to communicate the way that animals do. Maybe our intraspecies communication has become too rational, instead of physical and intuitive“, Yana Wernicke states.

If appreciated – than rescue

Yana visited animal sanctuaries around Germany and came across two young people, Rosina and Julie that each individually had rescued animals from slaughter. They decided singlehanded and without economic support to live, love and create trust with the animals. Rosina and Julie never met physically, but both their benign contact with those animals they share lives with, offered a rare insight for Yana into a heedful dialog of and soft community between different species.

What we share

In these years science is slowly unlocking how animals are communicating. That means that a list of things that humans allegedly were solely alone on sharing, like empathy, expressing emotions, generalised reciprocity are found in animal behaviors aswell. 

We learn them to be emotionally and intelligent, yet we neclect to see our direct responsibility for what we know we share most – the fear and certainty, we creatures feel pain. 

Companions was recently published by Loose Joints. In reference to the Photofestivals theme `rewilding´, curator Lene Harbo is happy to present Companions in that established vegan and ‘hyggelige’ Nørrebro Joint.