André Keiser
Taxidermist
Lausanne

« Each animal is a new challenge. I do not put emotion in my relationship with the animal. But I always treat him with respect. »

Moving away from his father’s proposal, André Keizer began his apprenticeship as a taxidermist in 1984 with Thierri Jaccoud at the Natural History Museum in Geneva. In 1990, after a few years at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Basel, he became the official taxidermist of the Cantonal Museum of Zoology in Lausanne. He participates in many wildlife exhibitions, especially for schools.

« I like to dive into the materials, to bring them to the end of what they can give. »

Simultaneously an architect, surgeon, carpenter, sculptor, locksmith and scenographer, André Keiser never ceases to reinvent his profession. In 2005, he restored the largest white shark currently preserved in the world. The giant leatherback turtle, which he restored, was even used for the purposes of the film Océans by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud. And his greatest pride is the Siberian tiger, the most important piece he has made.