??Since 2023 SUBG has been holding an annual Botanical Art and Photography Exhibition at the Duthie Garden Gallery. The exhibition encourages professional botanical artists to work with our most important plant collections. The Duthie Garden Gallery exhibitions connect visitors to the phenomenal diversity and exceptional local endemism of the Cape, expose them to plants from the wider South African context, and capture and celebrate the fleeting beauty of select endangered species in our care. We believe that botanical illustration and art is a crucial part of communicating the wonder and value of plants, and is a powerful medium to communicate the fragile state of many natural habitats and the plants they are home to. Nearly a quarter of Western Cape flora is considered either threatened with extinction or of conservation concern. We believe botanical artists are among the most knowledgeable and passionate about plants, and in their role as citizen scientists they transform our attitudes and understanding. 

SUBG facilitates access for artists to our ex situ collections. Artists find it difficult to access rare plant material to paint, and the relationship has become valuable to both the artist and the garden’s curators. Wendy Hitchcock has facilitated workshops in 2024 and 2025 and many Oxalis paintings were a result of this effort. 

There are various organisations that people can join to further their curiosity. The Botanical Artists’ Association of southern Africa (BAASA) arranges exhibitions, meetings and talks to further the field of botanical art. Volunteer-based Custodians of Rare and Endangered Species (CREW) are involved in finding, counting and reporting on vulnerable populations. ?

FLIP BOOK OR DOWNLOAD 2025 CATALOGUE HERE (link to be added shortly)

See previous year's exhibition catalogues:

CONTEMPORARY BOTANICAL ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION 2025

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??Previous exhibitions

??Botanical Art and Photography exhibition 2024

??In this year's exhibition, specialist curator Karen Stewart again sourced an incredible selection of works by South Africa's leading botanical artists. She included photography and found artists who bring a special insight to a plant through their work. While photography is not traditionally considered botanical art, this definition is evolving quickly. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has included photography in their annual exhibitions since 2019. ?Many works pay homage to the the Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Botanical Garden's incredible impact on conservation and education by depicting many beautiful and highly threatened species in the garden's ex situ conservation collections. The garden gives visitors the opportunity to relax, unwind, learn and explore. SUBG contributes to meaningful biodiversity conservation by sampling and managing ex situ collections of species and populations at risk of extinction according to global best practice criteria. 

All works are for sale and proceeds support SUBG's conservation work.

?Date: 28 September - 6 October 2024

Time: 9:00-17:00

Venue: SUBG office and laboratory????

Click to view the 2024 Exhibition Catalogue

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Art with PURPOSE

Karen Stewart

Botanical Art Curator?

?We are proud to present the second edition of Botanical Art and Photography exhibition at the SUBG. Art has become a powerful medium to communicate the fragile state our fynbos. SUBG has generously given artists access to the ex situ collections to enable them to learn and paint these endangered plants. Wendy Hitchcock facilitated a workshop and the many Oxalis paintings are a result of this effort. It is hard to find rare material to paint and the relationship has become valuable to both the artist and the garden curators. It is horrible that nearly a quarter of western Cape flora is considered either threatened with extinction or of conservation concern. We believe in botanical artists who are amoung the most  knowledgeable and passionate people about plants who in their role as citizen scientists are transforming our attitudes and understanding. This year we have included photography and have looked for artists who bring a special insight to a plant through their work. While photography is not traditionally considered botanical art, this definition is evolving quickly. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has included photography in their annual exhibitions since 2019. We hope that through the appreciation of this fine collection of artworks that you are able to experience the wonder and amazement the artist feels towards their subjects. Their personal stories show us that they usually start with a special connection, fascination and need to know more. It is precisely these qualities that we wish to nurture in our audiences, amazement which we hope translates into action. There are various  organisations that people can join to further their curiosity. The Botanical Artists’ Association of ?southern Africa arranges exhibitions, meetings and talks to further the field of botanical art. Volunteer based Custodians of Rare and Endangered Species (CREW) are involved in finding, counting and reporting on vulnerable populations.

Dr Donovan Kirkwood

Garden Curator

I am so pleased that Stellenbosch 肆客足球 Botanical Garden is hosting our second specialised botanical art exhibition. Not only has exhibition  curator Karen Stewart sourced the best botanical artists in South Africa, we’ve worked with them over the last year to specifically illustrate some of  the special and most threatened plants in our collections. Ann Norris’s Gethyllis kaapensis is so rare that it has never been formally illustrated before, and we are proud that our conservation work is helping avoid the extinction of this species, but has also enabled this work that is both and artistic and scientific record. Botanical art has many special features in the realms of fine art, science and conservation. Botanical art is of course every aesthetically pleasing and accessible, each work a unique representation of a botanical diversity that also reflects different artists techniques and approaches. But it does go so much deeper. Features that are hard to notice in plants or the field can be highlighted and shown in detail with great care. Botanical artists are also gifted observers, working with our scientists to accurately represent key plant anatomy. Every plant has a story to tell of its landscape, abundance or rarity, and biology, every species and even every population and individual as distinctive as a fingerprint, a reminder that biodiversity is all diversity, not just lists of species names. Importantly many of the plants we work with are seasonal, disappearing underground during the dry summer, some only flowering briefly for a few days or weeks. Sometimes we are simply not around them at critical moments. For most of the year, these out of sight gems may seem less important and simply be forgotten or overlooked. Botanical Art provides a constant and emotionally compelling reminder, keeping the most beautiful ephemera in our field of view?.

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