Three piglets that were reportedly being starved for an art exhibition have gone missing, according to the artist behind the controversial display.
Marco Evaristti, a Chilean artist based in Denmark, stated that the piglets were taken from his exhibition located in a former butcher shop in Copenhagen on Saturday, March 1. A maintenance team had briefly left the area to clean a restroom while animal rights activists were also present. When they returned just four minutes later, the piglets were gone.
Copenhagen police have indicated that no one has been charged in connection with the theft. However, Evaristti claimed in an interview that the piglets were taken with the help of a friend named Casper Steffensen.
Steffensen confirmed that he had organized for the Organization Against the Suffering of Animals (OASA) to rescue the piglets. He expressed his admiration for Evaristti but couldn’t stand by as the situation unfolded. He shared that his decision to help was influenced by his young daughter’s concern about the treatment of the animals.
The piglets were housed in a makeshift cage made from shopping carts. Evaristti’s exhibit, titled “And Now You Care?”, aimed to highlight the cruelty in Denmark’s pork industry, where thousands of piglets die daily.
The artist has faced backlash for this exhibition, receiving negative comments on social media from animal rights activists. This isn’t the first time Evaristti has sparked controversy with his art; he has previously created provocative pieces that challenged viewers in shocking ways.
In 2000, he gained attention for an exhibit that allowed visitors to kill a goldfish in a blender, and later he controversially served meatballs made from his own body fat at a dinner party.
