The Bambi Project

In 1923, the Austrian writer and Viennese modernist and Zionist, Felix Salten, published his coming-of-age book Bambi: A Life In The Woods.

Almost a hundred years have passed since Salten’s book was introduced to its first readers but the story, albeit with few outdated elements, has not lost its relevance today. Now, when discussions of environmental issues, the anthropocentric world view and climate crises have gained new momentum and online book club culture, a curious side effect of the global pandemic, has become more popular, it seems the right moment to revisit the pages of this forest tale. Together with a selected group of artists from the Baltic region, an online book club was created to read Salten’s Bambi and contemplate how this story connects with their personal experiences, the environmental issues we are facing today and the reconnection with nature as part of the idea of a post-human world. The artists of The Bambi Project are all in their own unique way known for their interest in nature and storytelling.

As a result of this experimental book reading laboratory, each of them has chosen some triggering aspect of Salten’s story and created new works for the Bambi Project. Exhibited in the darkened, protective environment of Kogo gallery, the artists’ works have become a coherent ecosystem in an imagined forest. The Bambi Project is introduced as part of the Ecology – Economy thread, which runs through this year’s exhibition and public programme at Kogo gallery.

https://www.kogogallery.ee/en/exhibitions/the-bambi-project/