THE AGES OF CATTLE
In cattle culture, history is divided into three time periods. The Time Before History includes the history of cattle before the domestication of humans. After this comes the Time of History, which for many if not all cattle begins about 10,000 years ago, when bovine culture became intertwined with the culture of humans. The Time of History ended one hundred years ago, when human industrial society made it impossible for cattle to pass on their heritage to later generations. During the Ahistorical Period, cattle were cut off from awareness of their own culture in many parts of the bovine world. Museum of the History of Cattle has been created to fill this void.
The museum presents cultural phases and the relations between cattle and their closest companion species, focusing on the cultural sphere that humans call the Western civilization. The world has never before seen an exhibition of this kind. The language used in the Museum of the History of Cattle is borrowed from humans, and is the same as that in which they write their own history. The cattle tongue is not a written language. In cattle culture, the tongue is a means of touching others. Like the cattle themselves, the Museum is only looking for temporary resting places, after which it will again take a few steps in another direction.
Hall 1 – The Time Before History
Unlike human culture, cattle culture is not a linearly perceived historical continuum. For cattle, time is cyclic. Neither the past nor the future are of great
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Hall 2: Historical Time
Ten thousand years ago, humans came across cattle in several parts of the world. Human culture was revolutionized, thanks to the bovine contribution to work. Cattle
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Hall 3: Ahistoric Time
For as long as humans have recorded history, they have understood the significance of heredity as a foundation for group identity and strength. In order to
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Hall 4: When Human History Ends
If humans disappear tomorrow, life will go on. The cattle who walk around unshackled in their sheds will break free. Some are unable to escape their stalls, and will die of thirst or hunger, or of the pain in their breasts.