This pilot project explores the relation between visual art and language use in a bonobo group living in a symbolic environment. We are first working with Kanzi and Nyota, raised by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, and currently living in Des Moines, IA. The experiment is led by Laurent Dubreuil and Jared Taglialatela (Director of the Ape Initiative), with Cathy Caruth as a key collaborator. The first part of the project was completed in April 2024. A second phase is scheduled to happen in the Spring of 2025.

Picture of Kanzi at work on his painting of “ROCK;” (c) Laurent Dubreuil, 2024.