An enterprising Dutch sea captain took a young Indian rhinoceros to the Netherlands in 1741 and then toured her extensively across Europe. ‘Miss Clara’, as she was known, was the first example to have been seen on mainland Europe since 1579. She caused a sensation and images of her were painted, printed, modelled in ceramics and sculpted in marble. This shiny, black, bronze version is about the size of a small dog.

During Black History Month 2018, the object was given a range of fresh interpretations by University of Birmingham students. They wrote new labels for artworks in the collection which depict, refer to, or have been collected from people of colour. Two of them are featured here:

Miss Clara, Miss Clara, the Regal Miss Clara,
So prized and applauded,
That is the life of our dear Miss Clara.
From the walls of her home, she watches majestically
As the world marvels at her splendid decoration.
She has become a docile and sensible creature,
A beauty to be admired.
This is our sweet obedient Miss Clara.

A Rhino. A Rhino. I am a Rhino.
They took me and beat me,
This is the life that they forced upon me.
From behind the bars of my cell, I stare helplessly
As the crowd cheers at my dressed up broken body.
I am now crushed and warped,
A perverse ornament on display.
I am their defeated puppet in a cage.

Sabeeha Zahieer, BA English Literature.

The power of a bird,
Regal as a queen,
Unrelenting and upright.
Mother is strength
Queen Mother is supreme

But then.

Reduced to a common animal,
Body broken and bruised, bent,
Now only a crippled
looking thing,
Something that is never seen.

Two sides of the same rotten coin.
Two sides of the Atlantic,
Both screaming out a millennium of loss

Anon