Rock Dove

Exploring the politics of public space through attitudes towards pigeons

Overview

Visit almost any city and you will likely notice pigeons with deformed or missing feet. This is the result of fibres, often human hair, becoming tangled around their toes and gradually cutting off circulation, a downside to living alongside humans and a metaphor for pigeon and human species entanglement. Rock Dove follows the efforts of a group of dedicated volunteers who meet on Sundays to catch pigeons and painstakingly remove the string and hair from their feet feet. The film focuses in on their hands as they patiently carry out this act of care across the species divide.