The World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018 is an international collaboration involving 25 countries, six continents, and hundreds of artists linking people with plants through contemporary botanical art.
In this country, the Botanical Artist Association of South Africa (BAASA) selected Unisan Erika Hefer from Study Material Publication, Production, and Delivery, to participate as one of 82 local artists.
Hefer says botanical arts are currently undergoing a global renaissance. “For this project, artists worked to document wild plants where they live to create a record of today’s botanical diversity. These artworks were submitted for juried exhibitions in each participating country, on view in 2018. This worldwide exhibition and its events will bring together institutions, organisations, artists, and the public to call attention to the importance of conserving our botanical diversity.”
Worldwide day of botanical art
Although each country’s exhibition will have its own opening and closing dates, all exhibitions were on view on 18 May 2018, and each have events scheduled to celebrate this historic project.
The South African group exhibition, including Hefer’s work, is showing at the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg from 17 May to 19 June 2018.
Participating countries provided digital slide shows of up to forty works, to be compiled with all other countries’ images and shown at each venue during the run of each exhibition. Opening events, lectures, demonstrations, webinars, workshops and other events will be held and some shared online, so visitors can learn more about contemporary botanical art and the earth’s floristic regions and botanical wealth.
For Hefer, this is an opportunity to showcase to fauna that people may have never seen before.
“I really enjoyed the opening night. It was the first time that I exhibited my work in a world-wide setting. It is a huge honour to have been selected. I am very grateful that I can use my talent to draw attention to a part of creation someone might not have noticed before,” she said.
*Compiled by Sharon Farrell and Kirosha Naicker
Source UNISA
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