Hidden Relatives: Homo occultatus

A museum presents the Homo occultatus, a newly discovered species. Their appearance constantly change and camouflages them as they navigate through their environment as they cover their bodies in objects that surrounds them. For them, privacy is health and interactions are unhealthy. They possess advanced tactile intelligence, and process the world through textural interactions — navigation and emotion. An integral part of their culture is their love for making, creating tools for defence and coping mechanisms as the nomadic beings adapt to a new environments. In an urban environment, this means to deal with invasion of privacy and sensory overload they experience. They also use clay to take impressions of textured objects they cannot take with them. Through the creation of this being, we aimed to explore themes of privacy, ownership and the ethics of false representation in museums.

In this world building project we create a new being, whilst criticising human society. We presented our idea through a performance where 3 researchers have a panel discussion which is being held alongside an exhibition in the Wellcome Museum. We payed close attention in the acting, wardrobe and cinematography because the devil is in the details. 

Check out the full speculative museum guide here --->