Leather sources

South Africa, with its vast sheep and cattle herds, has developed a modern tanning industry, employing thousands of people, and this is where Beatrix Bosch obtains most of her hides -- in common, as it happens, with such car manufacturers as Mercedes Benz and BMW.

Wild animal hides come from the carefully-managed national parks of South Africa where the animal population has to be kept in ecological balance to preserve the ecosystem within the park area. Animals that cannot be sold to other parks, ill animals, those which become a danger to others, are humanely put down and the sale of their meat and hides goes towards funding the upkeep of the parks. This system is scrupulously controlled by the South African department of Nature Conservation who certify all hides that emanate from this source and Beatrix Bosch will use no others.

Purchasers of her art can rest assured that they are no more contributing to the pain and suffering of animals than if they were to purchase a pair of leather shoes or a handbag.

By choosing to work in leather, artists face a dilemma: Does using it contribute to pain and suffering, does using wild animal leather encourage poaching and how can the artist be sure that answers to both questions are a resounding "No"?

For centuries, man has domesticated animals for food and, apart from meat, found a myriad other uses for domesticated animal leather -- shoes, coats, car seats, come immediately to mind -- calfskin and pigskin in particular.