In 2018 there was a worldwide collaboration linking people to plants through contemporary botanical art
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VIDEBelow you can find ON ONE PAGE:
  • a summary of the scope and purpose of the exhibition
  • ​a Worldwide Day of Botanical Art
  • project goals
  • a list of participating countries - with an outline of those eligible to participate, deadlines for submissions, selected artists (in due course) and venues and dates for exhibitions.
  • a comment on the definition of eligible artists
  • blog posts about the artists whose work has been selected for the exhibition (for each country - a work in progress)
  • videos of various of the exhibitions and exhibits
There is a dedicated website for the exhibition Botanical Art Worldwide. It also has a news page.  Each country also has its own page.
This page has everything on ONE PAGE and was regularly updated with new information in 2018
If you want information and images revised or updated please CONTACT ME (see form at bottom of page). 
The Worldwide Day of Botanical Art is 18th May 2018
The Worldwide Day of Botanical Art is 18th May 2018

Scope and Purpose of the World Exhibition of Botanical Art
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Exhibitions will be themed on plants indigenous to each country to:
  • focus on worldwide plant diversity,
  • highlight the world’s floristic regions. 
They will comprise 
  • Original botanical artworks juried from submissions of artists residing in each participating country.​ These will ONLY depict native plants (i.e. indigenous to that country)
  • A digital compilation of a selection of images from ALL exhibitions worldwide will be shown continuously at each participating venue, alongside that country’s original artworks.
Each country has set its own opening and closing dates - and title for its exhibition.
The definition of native plant is: 
"Any wild plant indigenous to a country, including natural hybrids, but excluding any cultivar, man-made hybrids, and naturalized exotics.”

A Worldwide Day of Botanical Art
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A Worldwide Day of Botanical Art was held on  18th May 2018
- special events were held around the world throughout the day.​
Below is the video about all the exhibitions from the new Botanical Art Worldwide YouTube Channel

Project Goals
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Organisation and management
  • To present a cohesive message about the ability to link the world’s people with plants through botanical art.
  • To build partnerships and educate the global community about the worldwide renaissance in botanical art.
  • To increase appreciation and understanding of the world’s precious plant diversity and its interconnectedness.
  • To acknowledge and build upon the increasing connections between artists worldwide.
  • To engage in a project to document the some of wild plant species of the world.
This exhibition is a project initiated by the American Society of Botanical Artists. The exhibition is being managed by a Steering Committee comprising members from each participating country (explained on the 'About' page of the dedicated website)

This page provides summary details of Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition Info and Participating Countries
and below you can download the outline for the exhibition in 2018.
worldwide_botanical_art_exhibition_outline2018.pdf
File Size: 65 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Participating Countries: Exhibition Venues and Dates
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Participating countries are listed alphabetically by CONTINENT and NAME OF COUNTRY. 
  • Links (in blue) are to website pages or documents detailing the arrangements for each country.
  • Each participating country had a Steering Committee for decision-making about their contribution to the collaboration. 
Original botanical artworks juried from submissions of artists residing in each participating country
Worldwide Botanical Art Exhibition Outline
Below are my photos of some of the catalogues produced for the various exhibitions on display at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens.

Africa
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SOUTHERN AFRICA

Organiser: Botanical Artist Association of South Africa
Call for Entries (now revised as of March 2017)
  • open to all BAASA members in good standing and botanical artists living in the countries of Southern Africa
  • Submission of intention to exhibit - 1 July 2017 
  • Regional selection - 4/5 November 2017 
Selected artworks
  • high resolution image required by January 2018
​Exhibition: Webpage: ​​https://www.facebook.com/botanicalartsa/

Blog posts:
Reviews: 
​You can see the Video of the Exhibition below

Asia
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CHINA
Title: to be announced
Organiser: Linhai Ziang, PhD and Kang Wang, PhD

​​Selected artworks: 51 artworks by 30 artists are on display 
​Exhibition​ Website: https://www.botanicalartworldwide.info/china/
Picture
Entrance to the Beijing Botanical Garden
INDONESIA
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Title: Ragam Flora Indonesia
Organiser: Indonesian Society of Botanical Artists
Call for Entries
Submissions: Every Indonesian and foreign artist who works on native wild Indonesian plants has the opportunity to participate in the exhibition.
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Venue: Bogor Botanic Gardens - the oldest botanic garden in SE Asia; also the home of the Centre for Plant Conservation
  • Dates: May 18-20, 2018
Website: http://idsba.com/
Picture
The entrance to Bogor Botanical Garden
JAPAN

Organiser: ASBA members in Japan
Call for Entries:
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​: ​Website: ​https://www.botanicalartworldwide.info/japan/

VIEW the video of the Japanese exhibition below (2 minutes 35 seconds)
Note: This video has received the permission of the Makino Memorial Garden and Museum and the artists of this exhibition.
REPUBLIC OF KOREA (SOUTH KOREA)
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Organiser: Korea National Arboretum and Korea Society of Botanical Illustrators
Call for Entries: http://www.kna.go.kr/
Submissions deadline October 13 - 17, 2017
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Venue: Korea National Arboretum, 415, Gwangneungsumogwon-ro, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do 
  • Dates: May 18, 2018 - end of June, 2018 followed by a tour to various botanic gardens
Website: ​https://www.botanicalartworldwide.info/republic-korea/

A video of the opening of the show can be seen below.
THAILAND

Organiser: Sci-Art Network of Thailand and Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 
Call for Entries
Submissions: 1 November to 15 December 2017
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​Website: ​https://www.facebook.com/SciArtNetwork/
Picture
Group organising the Thailand contribution to the Worldwide Botanical Art Exhibition in 2018
Picture
The Thailand Native Plants Exhibition Banner

Australasia
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AUSTRALIA

Call for Entries: 
  • Call for Expressions of Interest complete and return "Interest in Exhibiting" forms by 28 February 2017
  • Entry forms available:  September 2017
  • complete and return Entry Forms: 15 November 2017
​​Jurors: Beverly Allen, Leonie Norton, and Jenny Phillips and botanist David Albrecht
​Selected artworks: 109 works were selected for the exhibition - of which forty works will be sent digitally around the world
Exhibition
  • Title: Flora of Australia
  • Theme: ‘any wild plant indigenous to Australia, including natural hybrids, but excluding any cultivar, man-made hybrids, and naturalized exotics’.
  • Venue: Ainslie Arts Centre - Elouera Street, Braddon, Canberra
  • Dates: May 18 - May 27, 2018, 10am - 4pm daily
Web Page: ​
You can see the slideshow of the Flora of Australia exhibition below
NEW ZEALAND

Call for Entries Jurors: 
  • Sri Benham - Botanical artist
  • Dr. Ross Ferguson – Horticultural Scientist
  • Rebecca Stanley - Plant Curator at Auckland Botanic Gardens 
​Selected artworks: see my blog post Selected New Zealand artists for ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora’ (Botanical Art Worldwide #3)
​Exhibition​ ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake – Indigenous Flora’
Picture
Auckland Botanic Gardens
Below is how it looked at the exhibition in Auckland.

Europe (Western)
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FRANCE

​​Organiser: Société Française d'Illustration Botanique
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Venue: The National Society of Horticulture of France, SNHF, 84 rue de Grenelle 75007 Paris
  • Dates: 28 April - 23 May 2018
GERMANY

Organiser:
Call for Entries:​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Venue: Forum Botanische Kunst, Obere Hauptstraße 18, D-97291 Thüngersheim, northern Bavaria
  • Dates: May 18th to July 22nd 2018
Website: http://www.botanische-kunst.de/vorschau.html
ITALY
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​Organiser: Floraviva, the Italian Association of Botanical Artists, in collaboration with the Padua Botanic Garden
Theme:  A Flourishing Heritage – Portraits of Italian Flora
Call for Entries
​​Selected artworks: see Selected Italian Artists for 'A Flourishing Heritage – Portraits of Italian Flora' (Botanical Art Worldwide #8)
​Exhibition​ Website: ​http://www.floraviva.org/italy-botanical-art-worldwide-exhibition-2018/

Yor can see a delightful video of the Worldwide Botanical Art Day at the exhibition below - it's a wonderful combination of plant paintings, people and the place itself. Well done Italy!
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Orto Botanico di Padova
Orto Botanico di Padova
NETHERLANDS

Organiser: Vereniging van Botanisch Kunstenaars Nederland (English: Dutch Society of Botanical Artists)
Call for Entries
Theme: Native Plants of The Netherlands.
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Venue: Museum De Zwarte Tulp  (Museum The Black Tulip), Grachtweg 2A,  2161 HN  Lisse
  • Dates: 10 May to 1 September 2018
25 members of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists will participate in the exhibition.
SCOTLAND

Organised by The Scottish Botanical Art Collective - an umbrella organisation formed to represent the interests of
  • the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh,
  • Edinburgh Society of Botanical Artists,
  • Scottish Society of Botanical Artists,
  • Botanical Images Scotia and
  • independent artists.
Call for Entries: ​​Selected artworks: See my blog post Selected Scottish artists for 'Flora Scotia' (Botanical Art Worldwide #5)
​Exhibition​ Website:  
Picture
Gorse by Sharon Tingey
UK (excluding Scotland)
Organiser: Association of British Botanical Artists (ABBA) - a new organisation set up to organise this exhibition
Call for Entries: 
  • Call for Entries page (by 27 November 2017)
  • Intention to Submit form (digital by 4th August 2017)
  • Theme: Plants native to the United Kingdom. (see UK Native Plants page)
​​Selected artworks: see Selected UK artists for 'In Ruskin's Footsteps' (Botanical Art Worldwide #4)
​Exhibition​: Special Event Open Days:
  • DatesL 19th May and 9th June (10am - 4pm)
Website:
​You can see a video of the exhibition below.
Partnership Events: Worldwide Day of Botanical Art (UK) 

Organiser: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - with ABBA
Venue: Shirley Sherwood Gallery
Date/Time: 11am - 4pm
Admission: FREE with admission to garden
  • To be opened by Shirley Sherwood at 11am 
  • Slideshow of Botanical Art Worldwide all day
Demonstrations by 
  • 11:30 – 12pm – Dr Andrew Brown - From Plant to Plate – how to prepare a complete scientific illustration through meticulous observation, planning and execution.
  • 12:15 – 12:45pm – Lucy T Smith
  • Largest, Smallest, Oldest – the challenges of working with Kew’s greenhouse collections of giant waterlilies and rare cycads including Encephalartos woodii, one of the Temperate House’s rarest plants.
  • 1:30 – 2:00pm – Hazel Wilks - Dogwoods to Dandelions – the range of work a Kew illustrator undertakes: depicting new plant species, explaining plant anatomy and drawing world floras
  • 2:15 – 2:45pm – Georita Harriot - For the Love of Lavender – the work behind illustrating a botanical monograph in colour, including research into how to mix 1000 different shades of Green.
Work and demonstrations will also be shown by Christabel King, Anita Barley, Penny Price and Dr Judi Stone.
Organiser: Chelsea Physic Garden - with ABBA

Europe (Eastern)
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RUSSIA

Organiser: Lectoroom - a group of artists who organize online educational and art projects and exhibitions
​​Selected artworks: From 129 paintings submitted, 82 were selected from a total of 61 artists. 
​Exhibition​:
  • Title: Flora of Russia
  • Venue: St. Petersburg Artist Union Building. Morskaya Bolshaya ul., d. 38, St. Petersburg 190000, Russia
  • Dates: ​May 8 - May 20, 2018
Flora of Russia's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/baw.russia/
Programme of Activities: ​http://watercolormasters.ru/programma-baw
Picture
St. Petersburg Artist Union Building at 38 Bolshaya Morskaya street
UKRAINE

Organisers: M. M. Gryshko National Botanic Garden of NAS of Ukraine, 
​Exhibition​Facebook Page: Botanical Art Worldwide Ukraine

In addition, this year the National Academy of Science of Ukraine is celebrating its 100 years anniversary.

The Americas - Central America and the Caribbean
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BERMUDA
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Organiser: Bermuda Society of Botanical Artists
Call for Entries not specified
Jurors: Margaret Best, Lisa Green, Janice Sharp, and Leslie Walker
​​Selected artworks: 20 of 27 submitted.
​Exhibition​ Web Page: 
Picture
Bermuda City Hall and Arts Centre
COSTA RICA

Organisers: Lankester Botanical garden and University of Costa Rica
​Exhibition​: “Arte de Nuestra Flora”
  • Venue: Museo Calderon Guardia, Avenida 11 | Calle 25, Barrio Escalante, San Jose, Costa Rica
  • Dates: 7-26 May 2018
Picture
Museo Calderón Guardia, San José, Costa Rica
MEXICO

Organisers: Collectiva de Ilustradores de la Ciencia y la Naturaleza de México
Call for Entries: not specified
​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​
  • Title: Endemic Plants of Mexico
  • Venue: National Museum of Agriculture, Autonomous University of Chapingo, in Texcoco, Mexico
  • Dates: 18 to 26 May 2018

The Americas - North America
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​CANADA
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Organisers: multiple botanical art societies in Canada
Call for Entries​ Links re. Native Plants 
​​Selected artworks: to be announced
​Exhibition​Website: ​http://artoftheplant.com/

VIEW the video of the catalogue of the Canadian exhibition below
USA

Organisers: ASBA and the US Botanic Garden
Call for Entries
  • Open to all ASBA members in good standing, residing in the U.S. 
  • Submission deadline: September 22, 2017​
​Selected artworks:  ​Exhibition​
  • Title: America's Flora
  • Venue: United States Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC USA
  • Details of exhibition
  • Dates: May - October 2018 (then travelling to the end of 2019)
  • Missouri Botanical Garden (Spring 2019),
  • Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (Summer 2019), 
  • Botanical Research Institute of Texas (Fall 2019).
​Catalog: A catalog of artwork included in the exhibition is being published with the support of a grant to ASBA from Botanical Artists for Education and the Environment (BAEE).
Picture
United States Botanic Garden 100 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC
You can view America's Flora - Meet the Artists as 10 short videos on YouTube

The Americas - South America
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BRAZIL

Organisers: Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná (Botanical Illustration Center of Paraná​) and and Municipal Botanical Museum at the Botanical Garden Curitiba.
Call for Entries:
​Selected artworks: ​Exhibition​:
  • Venue: Museu Botanico Municipal (MBM) at the Botanical Garden of Curitiba Rua Engenheiro Ostoja Roguski 690 | Jardim Botânico, Curitiba, State of Parana 80210-390, Brazil
  • Dates: 18 May - 18 June 2018
Webpage: https://www.botanicalartworldwide.info/brazil/
Picture
Jardim Botânico de Curitiba - Museu Botânico (the Botanic Museum of the Botanic Garden in Curitiba in Brazil)
VIEW
  • the slideshow of Brazil's exhibition below (6 minutes 51 seconds) 
  • plus, below it, a short 15 second video of the opening of the exhibition.
  • There is also a 6 minute video of the opening speech (which is great of you understand Portuguese)
BELOW is the catalogue of the exhibition - each image has text about the artist and details of the plant illustration. Click the box bottom right to view in full screen
CHILE

Organisers: A new artists group - Circulo de Ilustradores Naturalistas de Chile (Circle of Naturalist Illustrators, Chile) or  CINC

​Exhibition​: Ilustración Botánica de Flora Nativa Chilena
  • Venue: Centro Patrimonial Recoleta Dominica, 683 Recoleta, Santiago, Chile
  • Dates: 18 May - 28 September 2018
Webpage: https://ilustradoresnatura.wixsite.com/cinc​
COLOMBIA

​Organisers: Antioquia's University Herbaria (HUA)  UdeA Herbarium and the scientific illustration Collective Biografos
Jurors: Botanist Álvaro Idárraga (University of Antioquia | UdeA · Institute of Biology) and artist Adriana Maria Sanin Escobar (Ikustradora cientifica at Universidad de Antioquia)

​Exhibition​: Plantas Nativas de Colombia
  • Venue: Museo Universitario 4piso, (University Museum 4th floor), Universidad de Antioquia
  • Dates: 18 May - 28 July 2018
Webpage:
There will be three courses in botanical illustration during the period of the exhibition
Juan Pablo Vergara Galvis will give several talks in Bogotá about botanical illustration and its history in Colombia
​Also in , there are going to be several talks about scientific illustration  
BELOW you can view a video about the celebration of the world day of botanical illustration 2018 and the exhibition of native plants of Colombia (at the University of Antioquia).
Lecture and workshop recorded at the Jose Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden - Bogotá, Colombia (1 hour 48 minutes)

What is an eligible artist?
A commentary at the outset of this project

Some of the definitions seem to limit the eligibility of artists to those in good standing with organisations participating in the organisation of the exhibition.

So far as I am aware (and I may be wrong) there was never any intention to limit participation to those botanical artists who belonged to particular organisations of botanical artists. The outline for the exhibition described the only qualification for an artist is that they reside in the country they exhibit with. There is no mention of needing to be a member of a botanical art society.

Limiting eligible artists to those who are "members in good standing" of named botanical art societies means that
  • excellent botanical artists who choose NOT to belong to a 'named' botanical art society - for various and very good reasons - will be ineligible for entry.
  • This means we won't get to see the best that botanical artists around the world have to offer - and I think that's really very sad for an initiative of this sort.  
  • From a personal perspective the exhibition is celebrating botanical art NOT botanical art organisations! Hence selection for the exhibition should be based purely on the merit of the painting and its relevance to the theme - and NOT on whether you belong to a particular organisation!
However there's still time for those organising exhibitions in countries involved to have a rethink and some of them have - and have revised their call for entries as a result! 

My view - by all means charge non-members an entry fee in excess of that charged to members - but please don't exclude excellent botanical artists who are do not choose to be "society people".

    Tell me about your exhibition and events