Yours Truly

Synopsis

Yours Truly follows the trail of taxidermic pieces collected by The Manchester Museum during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Archival letters between the museums directors, explorers, and lords unveil the stories of specimens. From a crocodile who digested the legs of natives on the River Ganges to the famous Manchester moth who was the obsession of a wealthy banker, they act now as uncomfortable reminders of past scientific and colonial procedures that sought to capture, order, and control animated life. Contested ideas of a natural world circulate through what remains, engaging with the material maintenance of ideal forms. Skin, bones, and eyes are fixed behind glass casings and gazed upon by public audiences. A telling unfolds that shares in mutual desired attempts to stay with the trouble of living in political, economic, and ecological ruins.