"All living things come from a single ancestor, a single root. Hence, we have represented Indonesia's amazing biodiversity in a *tree of life' with all its branches," said Agus Prijono, illustrator of 98 beautiful yet scientifically accurate drawings of endangered species in Indonesia.

As he spoke, he stood in a room decorated in bold greens and browns with a wooden mural of a tree, surprisingly a description of Darwin's theory of evolutionary lineages.

Agus Prijono and Piet Eggen were the two illustrators of the works shown in PILI (Pusat Informasi Lingkungan Hidup) Green-Indonesia's exhibition, "Revisiting Darwin's Tree of Life: Biodiversity of Indonesia, Drawings of Threatened Beauty", at the Erasmus Huis, Jakarta, which was opened Aug. 11 with the support of the Ford Foundation.

Eye for detail: The “Revisiting Darwin’s Tree of Life” exhibition features 98 illustrations of Indonesia’s endangered animals. (JP/Rafadi Hakim)

Mural artists Ryan "The Popo" from IISIP and Guno's "HelloGuno" from UNJ contributed to the huge "tree of life background", which was completed in a week.

"On each branch we find an illustration of a representative species of each order, and these species are endangered species that are endemic to Indonesia," added Evi Indraswati, PILI's data and information officer.

"And on each frame, a color represents the species' conservation status according to the IUCN Red List."

Vulnerable. Extinct. Threatened. One might feel a slight sense of irony when these words are juxtaposed against the life-like drawings of the exquisitely beautiful examples of Indonesia's rich biodiversity.

In Prijono's rendering of the Javan rhinoceros, for instance, the beast is in mid-motion and seems to move in its own tiny space in the frame.

Piet Eggen, the self-described "nature artist" from Overijssel, the Netherlands, described the extensive work involved in drawing these wildlife illustrations.

"My primary contribution is an artist's point of view," he said. "Nevertheless, at each stage, from the rough sketching, detailed sketching, to the coloring, we consulted a prominent biologist, Ed Colijn of the Indonesia Nature Conservation Database, to make sure that each detail of the individual species are accurate. I completed about 170 illustrations within a timeline of seven years."

Aesthetically pleasing yet scientifically accurate - such are the works in this exhibition.

All kinds of primates, birds, mammals, reptiles, insects and sea creatures share spots on the branches of this fragile tree of life.

"It is a fusion between the work of artists and the work of scientists," said PILIL Green Network executive director Pam S. Minnigh. "And in celebrating 150 years of Darwin's Origin of Species, we would like to remind everyone that Indonesia's islands contributed to our staggering biodiversity by, among others, giving an opportunity for evolution in isolation."

She explained that the aim of the exhibition is to provide a well-defined theme and a different atmosphere for the otherwise overworked theme of wildlife illustrations.

"We hope that this will promote awareness and open discussion among the public about the fast-disappearing natural heritage of Indonesia," Pam added.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

Revisiting Darwin's "Tree of Life"

Exhibition of Drawings of Indonesian Wildlife Species
(accompanied by continuous screenings of environment-themed movies)
Until Oct. 3.
Erasmus Huis
Jl. H.R Rasuna Said Kav. S-3 Kuningan
Jakarta 12950
Tel: (021) 5241069
Opening hours: Mon-Thur, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"Changing Lifestyle, Changing Lives: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Choice for Biodiversity"

Related seminar by PILI Green Network:
Sept. 1, at 2 p.m.
Free of charge; seats are limited
At Erasmus Huis

For more information, see www.pili.or.id/exhibition or www.mfa.nl/erasmushuis/en/the_erasmushuis

Popular

Red tape constrains AC supply as Jakarta heat drives demandt

China, Indonesia open a new chapter of building a community with a shared future

Ukrainians, Russian face death over Bali drug lab: Police