Peter Gabriel on Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
May 17, 2011
Written by Al Setka, Director of Communications
"The way we perceive the other species with whom we share the planet has been forever changed by the work of Sue Savage -Rumbaugh. " (Peter Gabriel, May 2011)
In 2001, musician Peter Gabriel visited the Language Research Center at Georgia State University near Atlanta where he was introduced to the bonobo research program directed by Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh.
As part of a profile of Dr. Sue for The Des Moines Sunday Register (and on the heels of Savage-Rumbaugh's recognition as one of the 2011 TIME 100 Most Influential People of the World), Gabriel was asked about his friend, Dr. Sue, and the contributions she's made to the world of science.
"Sue is a quite unique researcher, able to explore objectively the extraordinary minds and capabilities of the bonobos while at the same time being a nurturing part of their family," wrote Gabriel. "She is completely unafraid to follow her own course of investigation, regardless of how wacky people may think she is and whether it costs her the respect of the academic community. She's a passionate pioneer making extraordinary discoveries, often in really difficult circumstances."
"She is a leader in the field of interspecies communication, and it was her work that initially attracted me and in turn led me to propose setting up an inter-species internet,which I still hope we will be able to realise.
She also generously allowed me into her work which provided me with one of the most amazing and fascinating experiences of my musical life - improvising and creating music with the two bonobos she had most worked with and studied.
Panbanisha was so thoughtful with her music, and when we asked her to work with one finger ( which she interpreted as one finger on each hand ) she made some beautiful soulful and smart music.
Kanzi, the superstar, was perhaps feeling a little jealous of Panbanisha's success and seemed determined to outdo her, casting aside his towel, as James Brown might discard his cape, to sit down and create very masculine rhythmic music. With these two performances there was absolutely no way that the intelligence, musicality and sensitivity of our fellow apes could ever be denied.
If in her future work, she finds the evidence to prove our ability to communicate over distance without electronics and beyond the reach of sight and sound, she will once again require us to rethink who we are and exactly who else we humans share the planet with."
who was in her family?