Ö1 – Hörbilder Spezial
25 December, 2024
10:05 a.m. + 30 days available on:
https://oe1.orf.at/programm/20241225/779808/Elsa-und-Joy-Die-Liebe-einer-Grosskatze-zu-einer-Menschenfrau

ELSA AND JOY
The Love of a Big Cat to a Human Female
Audio Piece by Susanne Ayoub

with Roman Blumenschein, Till Firit, Silvia Meisterle, Katharina Stemberger and Raphael Sas
Sound Engineering Robert Pavlecka
Director Susanne Ayoub
Editor Elisabeth Stratka

The story begins in 1937. Joy Adamson, born Friederike Gessner in Troppau in Old Austria, now Opava in the Czech Republic, sets off from Vienna on an unheard of adventure. She wants to research and draw the flora of Kenya. Joy finds her new home in Africa. A few years later she is considered one of the best flower painters of the world.

Her work is shown in London and wins awards. As a result, she was commissioned by Kenya’s (colonial) government to represent the various tribes of Kenya in their costumes and rituals. These approximately 700 portraits now make a significant contribution to Kenya’s cultural history and are partly exhibited in the Nairobi National Museum. But that’s not Joy’s only talent…