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Terrible Beauty

Elephant – Human- Ivory
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Terrible Beauty explores the complex history and contemporary issues surrounding ivory, derived from the tusks of elephants. This richly illustrated volume delves into the cultural significance of ivory across 40,000 years, highlighting its use in art and music, while confronting the harsh realities of poaching, animal exploitation, and organised crime. The book critically examines the ethical responsibilities humans hold towards both elephants and this controversial material.
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Format: Hardback
$7299
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in ethical issues, cultural history, wildlife conservation, and environmental education.

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The Controversy of Ivory: Between Cruel Exploitation and Captivating Art

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The elephant is a much-admired animal, but it is also endangered. The ivory from its tusks has been in great demand across the centuries and throughout all cultures. What sort of material is it? How has it been used in the past and the present? And what can we do today to protect the world's largest mammals from poachers?

This lavishly illustrated volume embarks on a journey through cultural history and takes up a contemporary position.

Ivory fascinates. As long as 40,000 years ago, people carved mammoth tusks into artful figures and musical instruments, and it remains popular as a material to this day. Ivory polarises, because the animal's tusks also stand for injustice and violence. The exploitation of man and nature, the threatened extinction of the elephant, poaching, and organised crime are phenomena which we associate with ivory.

Terrible Beauty approaches the subject critically and poses the question as to our responsibility in our dealings with both animal and material.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

ARLIS/NA Reviews describes Terrible Beauty as a poignant examination of the "fatal combination of beauty and cruelty" inherent in ivory. The review praises the book’s ability to evoke both awe and sorrow by addressing ethical questions connected to the appreciation and exhibition of ivory, as presented in the affiliated Humboldt Forum exhibit in Berlin.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9783777433639

Publisher: Hirmer Verlag

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 12 August 2021

Country: Germany

Imprint: Hirmer Verlag

Illustration: 180 Illustrations, color

Contributors:

  • Contributions by Nicholas J. Conard
  • Contributions by Kathy Curnow
  • Contributions by Hartmut Dorgerloh
  • Contributions by Harald Floss
  • Contributions by Laura Goldenbaum
  • Contributions by Sarah M. GuΓ©rin
  • Contributions by Eboa Itondo
  • Contributions by Asher Jay
  • Contributions by Grit Keller

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 215.0mm

Height: 265.0mm

Weight: 1040g

Pages: 200

Collections

Arts & Culture Education & Reference Non-Fiction Science & Nature

About the Author

Born in Beijing in 1957, Ai Weiwei is renowned for making strong aesthetic statements that resonate across today’s geopolitical world. From architecture to sculpture and installations, social media to documentaries, he uses a wide range of media for new ways of artistically examining society and its values. He is the recipient of the 2015 Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International and the 2012 VΓ‘clav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation. Ai’s first feature-length documentary Human Flow premiered at the 74th Venice Film Festival in competition. He currently lives and works in Cambridge, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal.

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