Skóry „azjatyckich tygrysów” – chińskie taksydermie jako eksponaty i towary

Taxidermy is considered a highly controversial practice in modern times – even more so in the face of the Anthropocene and the rapidly declining biodiversity. Nevertheless, it is still performed and constitutes an important element of museum exhibitions and private collections. In the contemporary People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, taxidermy functions both as an exhibit, which by preserving animal corporeality serves different purposes, from cognitive to political, and as a commodity – an exclusive and expensive craft closely related to animal symbolism in Chinese culture. The aim of this article is to study taxidermies as exhibits and commodities, and propose their interpretations both in the space of the museum and the market. The unfolding analysis refers not only to contemporary Chinese culture and the perspective of the Anthropocene, but is also put in a broader context of taxidermy and its role in the ‘museum of the Anthropocene’. The proposed approaches serve the purpose of both understanding the role and position of taxidermy in China and Taiwan, and deconstructing the anthropocentric perspective of interpretation while focusing on the history of species and individual specimens as ‘undead’ testimonies of rapid changes taking place in the human age.