Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives

“Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives”, curated by Katerina Gregos, centres on animal rights and well-being, drawing inspiration from John Berger’s 1980 essay “Why Look at Animals?”, which reflects on the growing distance between humans and animals in modern life. The exhibition explores how non-human animals have been objectified, exploited, and silenced in a world shaped by colonialism, industrialism, and human exceptionalism.

Through a range of artistic perspectives, the exhibition exposes systemic forms of animal abuse while also highlighting empathy, intelligence, creativity, and resistance in the animal world. It invites us to reconsider animals not as “other”, but as sentient beings with agency, voice, and value. From urban survival to activism and animism, the works trace shifting human-animal relations and propose more just, interconnected futures.

Artists: Ang Siew Ching, Art Orienté Objet (Marion Laval-Jeantet & Benoît Mangin), Sammy Baloji, Elisabetta Benassi, John Berger, Rossella Biscotti, Kasper Bosmans, Xavi Bou, Nabil Boutros, David Brooks, Cheng Xinhao, David Claerbout, Marcus Coates, Sue Coe, Simona Denicolai & Ivo Provoost, Mike Dibb & Chris Rawlence, Mark Dion, Radha D’Souza, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Jakup Ferri, Alexandros Georgiou, Igor Grubić, Gustafsson & Haapoja, Joseph Havel, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Annika Kahrs, Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Anne Marie Maes, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Nikos Markou, Angelos Merges, Wesley Meuris, Tiziana Pers, Paris Petridis, Janis Rafa, Rainio & Roberts, Marta Roberti, Mostafa Saifi Rahmouni, Lin May Saeed, Panos Sklavenitis, Sonic Space, Jonas Staal, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Oussama Tabti, Emma Talbot, Nikos Tranos, Maria Tsagkari, Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Euripides Vavouris, Kostis Velonis, Driant Zeneli