Flota Nfumu

“Snowflake” was the name of an albino gorilla from Equatorial Guinea. From 1966 until his death in 2003 he lived in the Barcelona Zoo where he was one of the biggest attractions. When he was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2001, the zoo launched a media campaign asking children to paint a picture of Snowflake in return for a free ticket to the zoo. Children from all over Spain – 4,358 in all – responded and sent in portraits they had painted of the animal.

The title of the workshop, Flota Nfumu (“White Fleet”), borrows from the name Snowflake was originally given in Equatorial Guinea. “Nfumu Ngui” means “white gorilla” in the Fang language of western Africa. Together with the artist Filip Van Dingenen, young participants will draw pictures of Snowflake, examine his remarkable life using the collected children’s drawings from Barcelona and scrutinize the star status of the white gorilla that was fueled by the media and tourist agencies, rivalling the hype over human celebrities.