The Anthropocene is not an epoch; it is an extinction event. All extinctions have an aesthetics of their own. This research project investigates one of these, namely the complex relationship between aesthetic appreciation and species extinction through the double lens of multispecies anthropology and aesthetic theory.
Focusing on the Indonesian island of Java, the project studies the so-called “Asian Songbird Crisis”, referring to the dramatic decline and potential extinction of dozens of species of songbirds because millions of men across Indonesia have high aesthetic regard for their song and want to own, train and compete the birds. The project focusses on the way aesthetics sometimes drives processes of extinction.
Aesthetics of Extinction is funded by a Nova grant from the Aarhus University Research Fund (AUFF), grant number AUFF-E-2024-9-1. The project runs from September 2025 to December 2027.
