'Our Plants - Past, Present and Future'
O Tātou Tipu o Mua - o Ināianei me te Āpōpō'  

World Day of Botanical Art

18 May 2025
Join us for the weekend to celebrate Botanical Art around the world.

In the Huakaiwakawaka Visitor Centre
Auckland Botanic Gardens

  • COME ALONG AND SEE:

    Stunning artwork - 47 artworks by 30 New Zealand artists

    Slideshow of all 30 countries artwork showing all day

    Artist demonstrations in the Library Foyer 10am - 4pm
    Artists to be confirmed

    Meet artists in the gallery or drawing in the gardens

  • COME ALONG AND SEE:

    9am - we start the day with a Powhiri. If you wish to come along, be outside the visitor centre at 8.45am

    2pm - ‘Te korowai o Papatuanuku – the Cloak of the Earth Mother’, a talk by Dr Nick Ruskruge.
    Free to attend but numbers are limited. Please RSVP with numbers attending to friendsofabg@gmail.com by Thursday, May 8th

    Slideshow of all 30 countries artwork showing in the atrium all day

    Artist demonstrations in the Library Foyer 10am - 1.30pm
    Artists to be confirmed

    Meet artists in the gallery or drawing in the gardens


ART WORKSHOPS

  • Watercolour on Vellum

    With Lesley Alexander

    When: Saturday 10th May

    Time: 10am - 12.30pm

    Where: UNITEC Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $75

  • Watercolour on Vellum

    With Lesley Alexander

    When: Saturday 10th May

    Time: 1pm - 3.30pm

    Where: UNITEC Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $75

  • Botanical Watercolour for Beginners

    With Lesley Alexander

    When: Saturday 24th May

    Time: 10am - 12.30pm

    Where: UNITEC Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $75

  • Botanical Watercolours for Beginners

    With Lesley Alexander

    When: Saturday 24th May

    Time: 1pm - 3.30pm

    Where: UNITEC Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $75

  • Polysol Dye and Lino Cut

    WIth Val Cuthbert

    When: Saturday 24 May

    Time: 10am - 12pm

    Where: Friends Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $30

  • Geli Plate and Lino

    WIth Val Cuthbert

    When: Saturday 14th June

    Time: 10am - 12pm

    Where: Logan Campbell Building
    Auckland Botanic Gardens

    Cost: $30 (15yrs +)

Amanda Ffion Bell, Annette Judd, Bernard Salmon, Birgit Rhode, Cathy Brickhill, Claire Broughton, Erin Forsyth, Flo Pirotais, Gillian Receveur, Helen Gunter, Jane Marshall Fitzgerald, Janet Marshall
Jennifer Duval-Smith, Jenny Haslimeier, Jenny Lee, Jo Ewing, Katharine Allard, K M Reilly,
Lesley Alexander, Lisa Dickson, Lorraine Thompson, Megan Lockwood, Michelle Freeborn
Sandra Morris, Sara Bissielo, Sigurd Wilbanks, Sue Wickison, Valerie Cuthbert, Wilma Blom,
Yvonne Vannoort

Many Congratulations to the exhibiting artists who have had work selected for this exhibition

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Sunday 18th May - World Day of Botanical Art  
Saturday/Sunday 17/18th May - Weekend of Botanical Art
29th June - Auckland Exhibition closes
1st August – 30th September - Wellington Botanic Gardens
17th October – 7th December - Ashburton Art Gallery
7th December - Exhibition ends, all work returned to Auckland

BASNZ and The Friends of Auckland Botanic Gardens are delighted to announce that following the huge success of Botanical Art Worldwide exhibition in 2018, there will be another Botanical Art Worldwide in 2025.

The theme for this exhibition is ‘Crop Diversity’. The American Society of Botanical Artist’s steering committee for the Botanical Art Worldwide decided on the theme and say -

‘The second Botanical Art Worldwide Project will focus on and celebrate biodiversity in the crops that have been closely associated with the human species over thousands of years. The theme is designed to draw attention to the vast variety of food and useful plants available, in contrast with the relatively few varieties currently used in mass cultivation. Plants eligible for inclusion are those cultivated for food, textiles, building, energy, and medicine.

Currently, many heritage species and varieties are only cultivated in small quantities by specialist growers on a limited scale. It is vital to promote this genetic diversity in a world challenged by a growing population, changing climate, and habitat losses.

www.botanicalartworldwide.info; February 2022

All correspondence regarding this exhibition should be emailed to baww25nz@gmail.com

Useful websites -

The Heritage Food Crop Research Centre in Whanganui is a great source of information

https://www.heritagefoodcrops.org.nz/

‘Kōanga’ is home to a large collection of heritage food crops based in Wairoa, Northern hawkes Bay

www.koanga.org.nz/

‘Sentinels Group’ are a collective of New Zealand based hobby growers offering heirloom and locally adapted seed lines for sale.

www.sentinelsgroup.co.nz

Riverton Environment Centre is home to the South Coast Environment Society, which heads a number of community and environment initiatives in the Southland Region of New Zealand. They have a page for identifying heritage apples and a seed savers page where you can find out more about heritage seeds suitable for growing in the south of NZ.