It will be there until Wednesday 15 meter long sperm whale stranded on Zurich's Utoquai

Since Monday morning, a 15-metre-long sperm whale has been lying on the lakeshore in the city of Zurich. It is part of a three-day action by the artist collective Captain Boomer - invited by Zurich's Theater Spektakel in cooperation with the marine conservation organization KYMA.

The "obviously absurd and emotional image of a whale stranded on the shores of Lake Zurich at Utoquai" is intended to raise awareness of environmental destruction, species extinction and the endangerment of natural habitats, Zürcher Theater Spektakel announced on Monday.

The installation symbolically demonstrates that Switzerland must do its part to protect the oceans, a marine biologist from KYMA is quoted in the press release. After all, despite sewage treatment plants, chemicals and microplastics consumed here also end up in the rivers and thus in the sea.

For the Zürcher Theater Spektakel, the artistic exploration of ecological issues is a focus that has already run through several festival editions. The festival will take place on the Landiwiese in Zurich-Wollishofen until September 1.

Already stranded in other cities

"The beaching of a whale has always been a magical event," writes the collective on its website. Villages trembled and were thrilled when it happened. "That is what we are reconstructing," it continues. At the same time, the stranded whale is a "gigantic metaphor for the disruption of the ecosystem".

The Belgian collective Captain Boomer came up with the idea of a performative whale beaching back in 2008. Since then, it has staged whale beachings in various major European cities such as Paris, London and Madrid, and most recently in Australia.

SDA