PANDA MOONWALK or WHY MENG MENG WALKS BACKWARDS

Panda Protest against Zoos and Sexism

Since 2017 the two Giant Panda Bears Meng Meng and Jiao Qing have been hired out by China for millions of Euros to the Berlin Zoo. Unfortunately for the Zoo this profit seeking attraction did not work out as planned – in fact it worked backwards. Meng Meng, the female Panda will only walk backwards – probably protesting against her imprisonment. Surprisingly the international press takes a different, sexist route and suggests that Meng Meng’s behaviour relates to the fact that she has not yet bred and is seeking attention. Kerstin Honeit’s video aligns Meng Meng’s protest with other performances of protesting bodies using movement in public space to address grievances.