Promoting the art of conservation

NEW DELHI: The jungle book might soon be incomplete, if the tiger goes extinct. That''s the reason artists are promoting wildlife art.
Conservationist and artist David Shepherd calls it "art for survival"; Anjolie Ila Menon feels "without wildlife, art is lifeless"; Manjit Bawa''s goats are part of his signature style; MF Husain''s horse fetches a cool crore; an animal portrait by Peter Scott is valued around a million dollars.
A quiet effort to revive wildlife art is being initiated by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). Thirty years after David Shepherd got Indira Gandhi to launch ‘Project Tiger'', he''s still fighting for the survival of endangered species around the world.
"That''s because, man is the most arrogant, selfish and stupid animal, raping the earth again and again. Every hour, he destroys an animal for his own survival. Before I leave Delhi on Wednesday, 30 animal species would be destroyed around the world," said Shepherd, who has raised over $ 2.5 million for wildlife protection.
"Art and conservation go together. Through my art, I''ve generated funds and created awareness for wildlife conservation. I feel art with a purpose sells. Because at the end of the day, world leaders cry for war, earth summits are hypocritical and don''t care for the environment," adds Shepherd.
He started his career as an aviation artist and has written his autobiography, The Man Who Loves Giants, while his other book, David Shepherd: An artist in Conservation, is a compilation of 90 colour plates of his original wildlife paintings.
Organised by WTI, this workshop on wildlife art had many artists participate like Anjolie Ila Menon, Bulbul Sharma, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Laila Rajpal, Sujata Dere and Pulok Biswas. This painting session was held at Naresh Kapuria''s Art Junction to help generate funds for wildlife conservation in India.
"Wildlife art has no buyers in India. We''re trying to change this trend by encouraging artists to use more animal motifs," said Aniruddha Mookerjee, director of programmes, WTI.