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10х14 inch,
2023
I created this painting as part of the art performance “Stop Shark Finning,” held in Malaysia during ADEX Sabah 2023. The performance took place inside a transparent water tank. For forty minutes, the audience watched from the other side of the glass as I painted a life-size rubber shark tangled in nets. When I finished, I decorated the painting with pieces of real fishing nets, turning them into a symbolic frame.
Through this artwork, I wanted to remind people how irrational it is to kill such magnificent creatures just for a bowl of soup. I know that all of us, simply by living, already affect nature every day. I don’t ask you to stop traveling or eating or washing your clothes. I only ask you to be wiser, to think about how you use the planet’s resources. Even that alone can make a big difference.
The way sharks are caught is the most heartbreaking part. They are hauled up by the hundreds, their fins cut off while they are still alive, and then thrown back into the sea to die slowly. There is no special power in shark fin soup, no magic, no health benefit. You could throw any piece of cartilage or fish bone in, and it would be the same. Sharks are fully edible, yet only the fins are valued. The cruelty and waste are beyond reason.
The sharks believe in your wisdom.
P.S. Underwater artist Olga Belka thanks the organizers of ADEX Sabah and everyone who supports the protection of marine life.