The video has already gone viral: three penguins from the Kansas City Zoo were filmed in the corridors of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, wandering between the masterpieces of the Impressionist and Baroque masters. This private visit, which many would surely like to take advantage of during this period of confinement, was the idea of the director of the institution and the CEO of the zoo, who decided to expose the animals to a new environment in order to stimulate them.
Closed due to the pandemic, the zoo has not received visitors for some time and the director, Randy Wisthof, noted that penguins could benefit from a little trip outside. So here are Bubbles (five), Maggie (seven) and Berkley (eight), three Humboldt penguins from the coastal areas of Peru and Chile, who left the zoo to admire the works of the masters of art history. They even preferred Baroque to Impressionist paintings: "They seem to react better to Caravaggio than to Monet," said the director of the museum Julián Zugazagoitia with humor.
As he told Time, Zugazagoitia expected the penguins to react better to Monet's works, which is more "soothing" with their bodies of water. However, the three visitors seemed to prefer the Baroque works, including those of Caravaggio. “I don’t know what they feel, what it says in their mind,” Zugazagoitia said. “They stop, and look and wonder.”
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The museum and zoo took care to examine the galleries before the visit to make sure it posed no risk to the animals or the works. Despite some concerns, Zugazagoitia said he was happy that this little trip made more than one smile during a difficult period.
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"It really brought us joy, and I think it brings the community together when the love of animals and the empathy we feel for them is also reinforced by the love that we feel for art."
The video of the penguin’s artistic trip was released on May 15. Watch it here.
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