Frieze Sculpture Park | Reena Saini Kallat, Requiem (The Last Call), 2024

Описание: In this artwork, Reena Saini Kallat presents the recorded sounds of extinct bird species, transmitted through two sculptural horns modelled on early 20th-century wartime listening devices. From the podium, visitors can listen to a sequence of bird calls recorded in the wild, but now only available in scientific or archival repositories.

Among the species featured are the poo-uli, last seen on the Hawaiian island of Maui in 2004; the dusky seaside sparrow, once native to Florida, confirmed extinct in 1987; and the kauaʻi ʻōʻō, whose final known song, a mating call sung by a solitary male with no partner, was recorded in 1987. These sounds are no longer part of living ecosystems but endure as traces of vanished life.

The sculpture’s reference to military listening devices adds a layer of historical and technological resonance. By repurposing these instruments for remembrance rather than surveillance, Kallat draws attention to extinction as a man-made rupture, often accelerated by habitat destruction, climate change and human encroachment. Placed within the living soundscape of The Regent’s Park, the work invites listeners to attune themselves to what has already disappeared and to consider what might still be saved.