Dachshund UN
This afternoon, Jac, Juji, Jay and I went to see the Dachshund UN in the Perth Cultural Centre Amphitheatre, an installation by Western Australian artist Bennett Miller.
The stage is set up as a meeting of the United Nations, with dachshunds instead of people representing 47 countries. The sausage dogs are led onto the stage by their owners and once in place, the dogs just do whatever comes naturally! Today, there was barking, growling, tails wagging, yawning and dozing. Some dogs turned their back, some sniffed the bums next to them, some looked very excited, some just sat back and watched. The stage was designed specially so that the dogs’ owners could sit beneath the tables with their dogs, mostly out of sight, to provide reassurance and encouragement.
Japan was bursting with energy the whole time and at one stage we thought he/she would jump right out of the stage! Indonesia sat proud and upright, looking very serious most of the time.
Madagascar looked like he/she would have preferred a seat in the front row. India looked bored and sleepy.
Cuba barked at Bahrain for quite some time. Bahrain faced the onslaught with grace and restraint. Mexico whispered a secret to Egypt.
Indonesia continued to sit calmly amidst all the activity. The Philippines yawned and yawned and yawned. It was good napping weather after all (I’m convinced India did fall asleep in the back row at one stage :)) Overall, the dogs had pretty good manners and during the time we were watching, there were no fights requiring human intervention.
There were lots of people taking photographs. I took my pictures standing behind the barrier. These people went right up to the installation and got nice and close to the dogs. Today I realised I need to invest in a good zoom lens.
It was a great day out for dog lovers and their furry friends. There was a decent-sized crowd, all excited to see the sausage dog show. We saw all kinds of happy dogs enjoying the sunshine: whippets, poodles, French bulldogs, cavalier King Charles spaniels, and these proud bulldog crosses.
The Dachshund UN was originally scheduled to be on at 2pm for 45 minutes, but the time was pushed back to 3pm in the interest of the dogs’ comfort since a warm day was forecast. 47 dogs were on the UN stage, but I understand there were extra sausage dogs on stand-by in case any of the “performers” became uncomfortable or got too stressed or over-excited.
It was fun. I’m more of a cat person but I love animals and I think sausage dogs are so cute! I loved seeing all the different coats and colours of sausage dog.
More about the Dachshund UN
- Write-up at the West Australian online – Dogs unite in the name of art
- Dachshund UN at the PICA website
- Bennett Miller’s profile on Artabase
See the rest of my photos on Flickr