Dubai: A painting and photographic exhibition of butterflies will be held at the Cartoon Art Gallery, 8th Street, Al Quoz Industrial 1, Dubai from February 13 to 17.
The exhibition by artist IB Radhika Rani and photo-artist Manu Reghurajan will depict selected species of butterflies and their story of existence in our present environment, and how it still sustains life in this changed planet. It is expected to be an insightful experience and help develop thoughts for conservation and protection of nature around us.
Rani, an artist, poet and insect photographer and author, who is based in Kerala, India, will exhibit her 15 paintings, on canvas in impasto style, of select species of butterflies, showing the connection with the environment in which they strive, along with her poetry.
Reghurajan is a photographer based in Dubai. He will exhibit his selected photographs of butterflies from the UAE and India showing their beauty and connection with Nature.
Speaking to Gulf News, Rani explained all about this exhibition. “My home state Kerala has about 332 species of butterflies, and it was a surprising element for me that I got to capture the images of almost all the five families seen in Kerala, like the Papillionidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Lycaenidae and hesperiidae. From the largest butterfly, the southern birdwing, to the smaller grass jewel, it was all there in and around my house. As of now I have nearly 400 images of butterflies.”
“Photographing these beauties led me to gain more knowledge about these butterflies and about the host pants around my place. All these things lead me to do my first painting, which was about the red pierrot butterfly. After that I thought of creating more paintings with butterfly as a theme. I chose about 15 butterflies from the pictures I had taken.”
Reghurajan too explained as to why he picked butterflies as the subject his photography. “Butterfly is my most favourite subject of photography. They are indeed the flying flowers. Even before I started looking at them through my lens, I enjoyed watching them. Conducting an exhibition with the best out of my collection of butterfly images, both from India as well as UAE, has been on my mind for a long time. This is indeed a dream come true.”
Rani also revealed why she choose Dubai for the exhibition. “Last year I was in Dubai and was overwhelmed to see how the government is trying to get the greenery and nature around and it somewhat resembles our concept too. It is possible in every condition that we bring in nature to our daily life and in a way protecting the flora and fauna we are blessed with in this planet. Also because of the growing art appreciators from all around the world that we have in Dubai, we thought this would be the ideal place for the exhibition.”
Reghurajan feels that an exhibition on butterflies should reach out to a larger section of the society. “An exhibition is an opportunity to present your work to a wider audience and receive feedback. Specifically, in this exhibition of “Butterflies” I wanted to show the beauty of these tiny beings and increase the awareness among people to conserve the environment in which they live. Every tiny species in this world is a part of nature, just as we are, and their right for existence needs to be respected.”
