Homunculus loxodontus

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (October 2018) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 986 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Ждун]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ru|Ждун}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Homunculus Loxodontus
Artist	Margriet van Breevoort [nl]
Year	2016 (2016)
Location	Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands

Homunculus Loxodontus (nicknamed Zhdun, "The One Who Waits", Snorp, or WOSH)^[1][2] is a statue by Dutch artist Margriet van Breevoort [nl]. It was made for the Leiden University Medical Center and installed in the spring of 2016.^[3] It became popular in post-Soviet countries where it is called Ждун (Russian informal term for "one who waits").^[4]

The sculpture depicts a legless, gray creature with the head of a Northern elephant seal, a larval body, and human arms clasped together in front of it. It sits on a waiting room chair, and, according to the sculptor, the figure symbolizes the emotions of people who wait at the doctor's office.^[3][5] The sculpture is made of plastic and epoxy resin, which, when mixed, form a clay-like substance that feels hard and rough to the touch.^[6]

In May of 2016, the figure was installed in front of the children's hospital at the Leiden University Medical Center,^[7] but as of February 2017 is now displayed alongside other works of art inside the medical center.^[8][9]

The Leiden University Medical Center originally awarded artist Margriet van Breevoort [nl] a grant to create the sculpture for an annual art competition held by the Leiden Sculpture Foundation,^[10] where the sculptural theme for 2016 competition was biological sciences.^[11] Brevoort did not want to depict something related to the grim side of medicine or disease, and instead focused on the patients, ordinary people waiting to see a doctor for a diagnosis.^[12] According to her, the sculpture meant to convey the message that "you should calmly wait for diagnosis with hope for the best", and was intended to look humorous, but also cute and huggable.^[12]

In 2016, the sculpture was named the most photographed attraction in Leiden.^[13]

After being posted on the social network Pikabu in 2017,^[3][14] the sculpture (renamed Zhdun, or "Awaiter") became an Internet meme in a number of Eastern European countries, e.g. Russia and Ukraine, in which it is edited into famous paintings, photographs, videos, and other visual media.^[3][15][16] Models have been photographed in locales including an empty seat in the Ukrainian Parliament.^[2][4]

CD Land, a media company, bought the Russian media rights for five years starting in 2017.^[17]

The cover of the 2021 album Sand by Belgian indie pop-rock band Balthazar features Zhdun.^[18]

In Chita (Russia), a copy of Zhdun's sculpture was installed on the retro site of the House of Officers Park.^[19]

• Stoned Fox

• Homunculus loxodontus on Margriet van Breevoort's website