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O’ mice an’ men takes as its starting point the discovery of Mus musculus remains at Ponta de São Lourenço, Madeira, radiocarbon-dated to around 1030 AD — several centuries before the Portuguese settlement of the archipelago. Genetic similarities between Madeira’s house mice and populations from Northern Europe have prompted the hypothesis that mice may have reached the island aboard Viking vessels, although no archaeological evidence has confirmed a human presence. Their arrival nevertheless points to an early instance of human-mediated species introduction and its lasting impact on an isolated ecosystem.

From this uncertain history, the exhibition examines the entangled relationship between humans and mice: a species we transport, sustain and enable to thrive, while simultaneously attempting to exclude it from the spaces we inhabit. Drawing on traps, deterrents and the often absurd strategies devised to control rodents, the works approach the mouse as both unwanted intruder and persistent companion. O’ mice an’ men considers this ongoing struggle as one of unintended coexistence, in which attempts at control are continually undermined by the adaptability of the species they seek to contain.