Why look at animals? John Berger asked this question in his 1977 essay in which he examines the evolution of our relationship with animals and how they went from muses for the very first human art, as cave men and women adorned their stone walls with drawings of animals painted with animal blood, to spiritual deities, and eventually to captive entertainment.

They are the Last is an exhibition of artworks that depict animals in various settings, as pets, companions, labourers, and as a resource. The title is taken from John Berger’s poignant poem of the same name, written in 2008, which examines the gradual loss of traditional rural life and the connection between humans and animals. John Berger (1926-2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter, and poet. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize. His essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to the BBC series of the same name, is hugely culturally influential and continues to be widely read today. He was one of the major European intellectuals of our time.