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THE BEAUTY OF ORCHIDS
For thousands of years orchids have been valued for their ornamental appeal. But many species have become a victim of their own beauty...
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.