Brazilian biodiversity is the subject of an exhibition in Beijing
Exhibition entitled Brazilian Nature – Mystery and Destiny arrives in China, where it will be on display until April 29 at Peking UniversityBy Samuel Antenor, in Beijing
Agência FAPESP – The exhibition Brazilian Nature – Mystery and Destiny opened in Beijing on Tuesday, April 15 at the Peking University (PKU) Library, offering the Chinese public a look at some of the research on Brazilian flora that has been conducted in different eras, and contextualizing historical information with current data.
Installed in a spacious exhibition hall at the PKU Library – considered to be the largest in Asia, with a collection of more than eight million books – the exhibition is part of the FAPESP Week Beijing program, which runs through April 18 at the Yingjie Exchange Center on the university campus.
The exhibition depicts various moments in time in which the different Brazilian biomes – such as the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado, the Amazon and the Caatinga – have been documented and studied.
The exhibition displays reproductions of 19th-century drawings done by von Martius himself, along with explanatory text and present-day photographs of plants and biomes.
The iconographic data help to explain matters pertaining to the biological megadiversity in Brazil, a country that alone hosts 15% to 20% of the Earth’s biodiversity. The role of research in the preservation of these biomes is also included in the scope of the exhibition.
Conceived on the basis of information obtained from FAPESP-funded projects, the exhibition is the result of a partnership between FAPESP and the Berlin Botanical Museum.
Among the dozens of images are several taken during research studies carried out under the scope of the project Phanerogamic Flora of the State of São Paulo and the Research Program in Identification, Conservation, Recovery and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the State of São Paulo (Biota-FAPESP).
Shared knowledge
At the opening of the exhibition in Beijing, FAPESP President Celso Lafer emphasized that the scientific knowledge resulting from the research presented in the exhibition is essential to the future of the planet.
“This exhibition gives us an opportunity to present, side-by-side, the past, the present and the future of research studies involving nature in Brazil. It enables us to come in contact with a real-world experience from the 19th century and compare those images with present-day photographs of plants and biomes.”
For Lafer, this describes the fundamental role of the research conducted over the past few years to preserve animal and plant species, not only in Brazil but in other countries as well, including China.
At the opening of the exhibition, PKU Vice President Li Yansong emphasized that the Chinese university places a high priority on the promotion of collaborative research programs with Brazil in different areas. “It is a great honor to welcome this exhibition as part of FAPESP Week Beijing, which shows that Brazil and China are forging closer ties, not only in economic terms, but also in the areas of scientific research and technology.”
In his view, the exhibition promotes greater understanding of the biodiversity of Brazil, which, like China, is richly endowed with natural resources. “Each image functions as a window into Brazilian biodiversity and research. I believe that the collaboration with FAPESP is likely to open up prospects for joint studies between Chinese and Brazilian scientists in this and other areas,” he commented.
Brazil in China
Hu Xudong, director of the Center for Brazilian Culture at Peking University, said the time is right for closer ties between the two countries. Interest in Brazil has grown very quickly, he notes, not only in terms of science but in cultural matters as well.
“In 2003 there were only five Portuguese language programs in China. Today there are undergraduate programs in Portuguese language at 20 universities,” he said.
In his opinion, the exhibition at PKU will likely help university students and professors to discuss Brazil’s experiences with environmental conservation, which he regards as important in light of the environmental challenges that China faces.
“Peking University has traditionally offered studies on biodiversity, is home to the country’s oldest biology department, and is also responsible for training specialists in the preservation of animal life,” the professor told Agência FAPESP, pointing out that the PKU campus contains preserved remnants of Beijing’s original vegetation.
The exhibition that now arrives in China has previously traveled to cities in six countries – Berlin, Bremen, Leipizig, Heidelberg, Eichstätt and Erlangen (Germany); Toronto (Canada); Washington, DC, Cambridge, Morgantown, Charlotte, Chapel Hill and Raleigh (United States); Salamanca and Madrid (Spain); Tokyo (Japan); and London (United Kingdom).