Who we are
The Botanical Illustration Center of Paraná is a private entity of a
sociocultural and educational, non-profit, of public utility, headquartered in the Municipal Botanical Garden of Curitiba.
It was founded in 2000 with the aim of encouraging the dissemination and practice of botanical illustration and promoting the training of new illustrators through the organization of courses, workshops and individual guidance.
As related and complementary activities, the CIBP supports scientific activities related to botanical research and environmental preservation, such as the registration of Brazilian flora in order to raise awareness about the need to preserve native species, especially those threatened with extinction.
In addition to its regular courses, the institution offers activities open to the general public, through social counterpart projects such as, for example, Open Studio, Botanical Notebook, training course in Botanical Illustration, botanical illustration course for young people and partnerships with public and private institutions, for the development of university extension activities.
Botanical illustration
The art of illustrating plants is very old and appreciated by people all over the world. It had its great development and peak in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Great names stood out in this field, such as Redouté, Ehret, the brothers Francis and Ferdinand Bauer, among others.
Botanical illustration consists of representing a plant as accurately as possible, ensuring that it can be identified. Through technical and artistic refinement, the illustrator captures all of the formal characteristics of the plant, translating them into an expressive work that is capable of moving the observer.
In Brazil, botanical art has been widely disseminated since the works of Margaret Mee, created between 1956 and 1988, focusing on the flora of the Amazon and Atlantic Forest.
Margaret Mee
I know that my death will not be the end of my work. Wherever I go, I will try to influence those who are destroying our Planet, so that the Earth has a chance to survive.”
