蘭之魅 Lán Zhī Mèi - The Beauty of Orchids

An exhibition about conservation

For thousands of years orchids have been valued for their ornamental appeal. But many species have become a victim of their own beauty, and are now a serious conservation concern. In this project we aim to highlight the decline in many species in the wild, with a botanical art exhibition.

Through this project we aim to create greater awareness of the impact of buying wild orchids for their ornamental use. We do not wish to suggest that people should stop buying orchids. We present some possible solutions for orchids threatened by over-collection.

How we will achieve this?

We will use the power of art to reach a wide audience; engaging emotions and encouraging mindful purchasing of orchids. Using a combination of different styles of art we will be developing an exhibit of the species threatened by over collection. The exhibit is based on research from the biodiversity hotspot of Xishuangbanna (also known as Banna). This region hosts some of the greatest diversity of orchids anywhere on the planet.

The exhibition will include scientific watercolour illustrations and traditional ‘Gōng bĭ’ Chinese art.

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Visit Gallery

If you would like to see the gallery of my paintings that I have been prepared for this exhibition, please click here.

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Latest News

We did it!
If you like to read about my last trip to China, and the backround of this exhibition marathon check the link below..

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  A Blog about 'The Beauty of Orchids'

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Related News

• Studio at the XTBG

  January, 2015

  
  For more information please click here
  

  • My first visit to Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, XTBG was on January, 2015. I have stayed there for 3 months to prepare the first sketches of a series of endangered orchids.
    
    I had a really great studio there, with a big space and amazing daylight comes through windows. This was one of the best studios so far I have been working in!
    
    I had a chance to work on 9 species of Orchids during this time. I was so pleased with the help of people from XTBG. They were very kindly helping to get my sample, providing scientific support, and their kindness made me feel very comfortable.. Looking forward to go there again next year!

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    Photos from the studio

    
    

    

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• Collecting Samples

  January, 2015

  
  For more information please click here
  

  • All the species I will paint for this project is collected from the nursery of the garden. XTBG is a big botanical garden, so you might need to take small electric busses, or have a long walk. Generally I do my scientific illustration in the studio, not in the field, so what I need to do is go to the nursery, get my sample and bring back to my studio to prepare my initial studies. To make this process easy going for me, they have given me a green electric scooter which we called 'George'. XTBG is producing its own electric from the river surround the garden, so everything was very environmental friendly!
    
    People from the XTBG were kindly helping me to get my sample, identify it, and make sure I am working on the right sample! And they have an amazing nursery, was always hard for me to choose my sample, so many subjects! All are a beauty!
    
    

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    Photos from the nursery

    
    

    

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• Biodiversity Conservation in XTBG

  March, 2015

  
  For more information please click here
  

  • During my visit to XTBGE, there was a meeting on biodiversity conservation. It was about illegal wildlife trade in South West Asia.
    
    Prince William also visited XTBG for that time, give a talk at the meeting on biodiversity protection in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden
    
    For the same event, I had a small exhibition only includes my initial sketches, and information about our project. I was really happy to see the interest of the people for my paintings, and the idea that we are using art for a conservation programme.

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    Photos from the exhibition