The title of Stefanie Koemeda’s exhibition is drawn from an epitaph, penned by Pope Leo X in the early sixteenth century, in which he writes dotingly about an elephant named Hanno that he received as a gift from the Portuguese king, and that was brought to him by the Portuguese ambassador Tristão da Cunha from Cochin, India, in 1514. Placed alongside a fresco by Raphael, the Pope’s epitaph includes a line — “... And in my brutish breast they perceived human feelings” — that could be said to summarise the driving impulse behind much of the work on show.

Produced while in residence at NIROX, the exhibition comprises ceramic- based relief works, sculptures, and watercolours. It continues Koemeda’s ongoing interests in deep time, archeology, hyperobjects, and future geologies.

The residency and exhibition were supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg.