The dove that goes boom! Pigeon race performance, installation, glass trophies, poster, video. As part of the exhibition “Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully”, curated by Bik Van der Pol, Fort Asperen, the Netherlands. 2011
Invitation to participate in the First International Pigeon Race for the Cup of Fort Asperen
Dear Sir/ Madam, esteemed Pigeonfancier,
I am excited to invite you to participate in the First International Pigeon Race for the Cup of Fort Asperen. This pigeon race is not a normal race. It is part of an art project by the Lithuanian artists Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas, who have been examining the various symbolics and histories of pigeons and pigeon racing in their works for several years.
In 2007 the artist duo participated in the Venice Biennial – one of the world´s most prominent contemporary art events – with their project The First International Pigeon Race for the cup of Villa Lituania. Playing upon the use of pigeons in (past) strategic war techniques they organized a pigeon race to reclaim the former Lithuanian Embassy in Rome, that after the dissolving of the USSR remained in hands of the Russian government. Connected to the art project the current practice of pigeon racing is put in a special historical and symbolical context, and presented to the interest of a wide audience, normally not aware of the traditions and history of pigeon racing.
Now this summer Gediminas and Nomeda will give the project a new turn in the framework of the exhibition ´Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully´ , taking place in the old military fort of Asperen (the Netherlands). For the grand opening of the exhibition, on June 11, 2011, we are organizing a pigeon race to launch the project. Competitors are being recruited throughout the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Great Britain and Poland to compete in the First International Pigeon Race for the cup of Fort Asperen. Winners will receive a trophy made by these internationally recognized artists in collaboration with the Leerdams Glasmuseum, the glass center of the Netherlands reaching out to an audience of over 60.000 yearly! The trophies will be presented throughout the exhibition that lasts until 25 September, after which they will be sent to their rightful owners.
Practical notes:
The pigeons will be hosted by Dutch first rank pigeon fancier Jos de Ridder (http://www.josderidder.com/) . The pick-up will be arranged in conversation with the organisation of the exhibition. As a contemporary art project we are of course no experts in the business of pigeon racing, but we are proud to inform you we are being supported from a distance by First Class pigeon fancier Eros Carboni, who has supported the Venetian race in 2007.
We hope we can welcome you to our list of competitors!
With greatest regards,
Nathalie Hartjes,
On behalf of Gediminas and Nomeda Urbonas, and
Bik Van der Pol, Curators of the exhibition Too late, too little, (and how) to fail gracefully
http://www.bikvanderpol.net/ / http://www.kunstfortasperen.nl/ 
ARTIST’S NOTES:
Pigeon
Similar to other animals pigeon is lending out their features to the war techniques.
Like Trojan horse and Medici’s giraffe, Warhorses and Elephants, Durer’s Rhinoceros and bomber dolphins, pigeons become devices that share their belonging to both – nature and techne. Animals lending their skin to the camouflage patters, logic of their movements to the one of robots, their muscles to carrier of ammunitions, their senses to control protocols, their species names to name technologies of war. But there is little difference if one looks at pigeon, as pigeon is a messenger that guarantees intelligence to the war machine.
Pigeon appears in Picasso’s famous Peace Dove, in his poster for the Congrès Mondial des Partisans de la Paix (1949) and then in other propaganda materials he made for the Communist party. Its manifest meaning is clear- ‘the dove is an old conventional symbol for peace.’
The pigeons are considered as space invaders. The Tim Burton film Mars Attacks (1997) presents the audience with a number of stereotypes that construct and reinforce imperial imaginations. There is a scene in which hippies liberate a white dove (clutching a fig leaf in its beak) as a symbol of peace to greet the Martians, and the Martians open fire and kill the symbolic emissary as they think it is a weapon (an air force of one)!
Mould making workshop at Fort Asperen
Blowing Bags at Glass Studio
The Trophies. Installation at Fort Asperen
