Re-Homing Pigeon is a monumental soft sculpture that transforms one of the city's overlooked residents into an object of comfort and care. Constructed as a giant beanbag, this pigeon invites visitors to sit, lean, cuddle, and interact with it. By fostering physical closeness with a bird often dismissed as a pest, the work explores our shared history of domestication, abandonment, and coexistence. Installed near Halifax's waterfront, the sculpture encourages audiences to see pigeons as non-human urban residents and to imagine a city where humans and wildlife are recognized as interconnected inhabitants of the same home.
When was the last time you really saw a pigeon? What would happen if you sat beside it? Leaned against it? Hugged it?
Re-Homing Pigeon is a monumental soft sculpture that invites festival-goers to do exactly that. Installed near Halifax's waterfront, this giant pigeon functions as a plush oversized beanbag, inviting visitors to rest against its wings, snuggle into its body, and experience intimacy with an animal so familiar it has become almost invisible.
Pigeons are among our oldest domesticated companions. For thousands of years, they lived alongside humans as loyal messengers and reliable partners. As urban technologies shifted towards industrialization, our relationship with them was abandoned. They remain in the cities they helped develop, adapting to increasingly hostile environments. Although often dismissed as urban pests, their widespread presence is a reminder of our history of kinship and mutual interdependence.
Re-Homing Pigeon asks what it might mean to renew that relationship. Rather than seeing pigeons as nuisances to be managed, the work invites us to encounter them as fellow inhabitants of our cities. As our non-human neighbours, they are deserving of care and consideration. Their histories and futures remain intertwined with our own, and they continue to be impacted by urban development. Through physical closeness and play, this sculpture offers an opportunity to replace instinctive distance with curiosity and affection.
The sculpture is constructed from waterproof reflective vinyl, a material associated with visibility and protection in a city at night. Worn by cyclists, construction workers, and others seeking visibility while navigating urban environments after dark, reflective fabric is designed to help vulnerable bodies be seen. Constructed into the form of a pigeon, it takes on a new meaning. The bird's body catches and reflects light, with silver and iridescent tones echoing its natural plumage. By highlighting the individual within the flock, this piece asks whose lives are considered worthy of attention and protection.
By offering comfort through an unexpected companion, Re-Homing Pigeon encourages visitors to look differently at the birds they pass every day. It proposes that care begins with attention, and that making space for other species can become a way of reimagining the kind of city we want to inhabit together.
