The controversial camelid parade

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization declared 2024 the International Year of Camelids. To mark the event, a large camelid parade was scheduled to take place in the heart of Paris on April 20th with the participation of some thirty foreign delegations. Pressure from both animal rights group and the Mayor of Paris helped ban the event from taking place in the city center's most iconic streets. The parade was alternatively permitted to take place in the Bois de Vincennes, just outside of the capital. In this work, I tried to capture this controversial event in a way that deeply reveals our relationship to animals. What seems on surface to be a celebration of this majestic animal is nothing less than a public display and normalisation of our dominance over the natural world. Because of a camel's ability to withstand extreme temperatures and still produce milk when feed supplies are poor, these animals are seen to fit the bill when it comes to climate change, economic growth and the security of food. "Even in extreme climatic conditions they continue to produce fibre and nutritious food"(FAO). Meanwhile, animal rights group see an instrumentalisation behind the colourful event - from the exoticness of these impressive, less understood animals to the indigenous peoples' obvious reliance on them for their livelihood. It's a bit of a stretch to compare the needs of those living in the highlands to those living in bustling cities - and yet, this is precisely what is being underpinned and forecasted on the climate change horizon. Instead of ending the known animal cruelty inherit to the dairy and meat industry, in the presence of abundant and innovative plant-based food options, events such as these point to a general reluctance to question habits and the animal ethics of food production and sustainability. "From providing milk, meat and fibre for communities to transport for products and people, and organic fertilizer, camelids thrive where other livestock species cannot survive" is the general message proclaimed to industrialised nations by the UN in declaring 2024 the International Year of Camelids.