In the spring of 2016, an unusual, legless gray creature took up residence in a Dutch hospital. Featuring the head of a northern elephant seal, a larval body, and human hands politely clasped together, this statue sat on a waiting room chair.
What began as a local medical art installation soon broke geographical borders to dominate screens across Eastern Europe. The bizarre figure transformed from a hospital fixture into an internet sensation, a commercial property, and the star of a science fiction film franchise.
A Unique Medical Commission
The Leiden University Medical Center awarded Dutch artist Margriet van Breevoort a grant to create a work for the Leiden Sculpture Foundation’s 2016 competition. Tasked with the theme of biological sciences, van Breevoort avoided depicting the grim realities of disease.
She focused on ordinary people, intending to capture the feelings of patients calmly awaiting a diagnosis. She designed Homunculus Loxodontus to be humorous, cute, and huggable. The structure is made from plastic and epoxy resin, which form a hard, rough, clay-like substance.
Hospital Displays and Replicas
Installed initially in May 2016 in front of the Leiden University Medical Center children’s hospital, the piece was moved indoors by February 2017. It quickly became the most photographed attraction in Leiden in 2016. The display adapted to the times.
In 2021, a COVID-19 face mask was temporarily placed across its nose. Its reach expanded physically when a copy was installed at the House of Officers Park in the city of Chita in 2017.
An Unlikely Internet Sensation
The artwork found new life online in 2017 after appearing on the social network Pikabu. Renamed Zhdun, meaning “Awaiter” or “The One Who Waits”, it became a viral meme across Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine.
Digital creators edited the creature into famous paintings and videos, while physical models were photographed in an empty seat within the Ukrainian Parliament. Media company CD Land purchased the Russian rights for five years in 2017. Additionally, Zhdun appeared on the cover of the 2021 album Sand by Belgian band Balthazar.
Hitting the Big Screen
Homunculus Loxodontus reached the cinema in March 2025 with the Russian film Ждун в кино, also known as Snorp: My Alien Friend.
Reimagined as an alien voiced by Karen Arutyunov, the plot follows the creature after crashing to Earth. Hidden by a family, he searches for a specific mineral, salt, while a technology company attempts to steal his spaceship. A sequel, Ждун 2 or Snorp: My Alien Friend 2, was released on April 30, 2026.