Primate Display, Zoo or Wildlife Park, circa 1960s

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Primate Display, Zoo or Wildlife Park, circa 1960s — Archive & Atlas

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Primate Display, Zoo or Wildlife Park, circa 1960s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1955–1975

AA-2026-350177

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A colobus monkey hangs from the branch structure of its enclosure, visible to visitors seated in what appears to be an observation vehicle or covered viewing area—the kind of safari-park or drive-through zoo arrangement that became popular in the mid-twentieth century, when people believed they had solved the problem of animal display by removing the bars and moving the humans instead. The monkey performs its essential function: being looked at through glass or an open window by an audience that has paid admission to watch wildlife without leaving their seats. The silhouetted heads of visitors frame the scene, their attention fixed on the animal with the patient expectation of people who have driven here specifically for this moment and intend to get their money's worth. Behind the monkey, the dense foliage of the enclosure suggests an attempt at naturalism—the theory being that a facsimile of habitat would somehow make captivity educational rather than merely convenient. The monkey, meanwhile, has positioned itself exactly where the designers intended it to be positioned, which was always the point.

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