Botanical Art Worldwide 2025
Indonesia
“Khazanah Alam Nusantara” - Nusantara’s Natural Treasures
about
Opening on the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art and coinciding with the anniversary of Bogor Botanic Gardens on 18 May 2025, this exhibition will showcase dozens of original works celebrating the diversity of useful plants cultivated and foraged for food, medicine, textiles, shelter, and energy, all native to the Indonesian archipelago, “Nusantara.” These plants have been integral to local communities for centuries, offering vital resources and holding deep cultural significance.
Returning to Bogor Botanic Gardens for its second Botanical Art Worldwide Indonesia exhibition, the event is set in a location that began as an experimental garden for plantation crops during the Dutch East Indies era. It has since evolved into a vibrant centre for botany, plant conservation, research, environmental education, and tourism in Indonesia.
A catalogue of the exhibition will be published.
Organizer
Indonesian Society of Botanical Artists (IDSBA)
Steering COmmittee
- Eunike Nugroho
- Deinitisa Amarawi
- Youfeta Devy
jurors
- Dr. Destario Metusala, M.Sc (Botanist)
- Kurniawan A. Saputro, Ph.D. (Art Curator)
- Jenny A. Kartawinata (Botanical Artist)
Exhibition Venue
Bogor Botanic Gardens
Bogor Botanic Gardens (Kebun Raya Bogor), the oldest botanical garden in Southeast Asia, celebrates its 208th anniversary on 18 May 2025. It is currently operated by the National Research and Innovation Agency (Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, BRIN). The exhibition will be held at Griya Anggrek (Orchid House), a newly renovated building inaugurated in 2023 within Bogor Botanic Gardens.
Left: Griya Anggrek, Bogor Botanic Gardens (Photo courtesy: Rio Ananta Prima)
Center: Bogor Botanic Gardens (Photo courtesy: Rio Ananta Prima)
Right: Inside Griya Anggrek, Bogor Botanic Gardens (Photo courtesy: Rio Ananta Prima)
dates
18 May - 1 June 2025
More Information
www.idsba.com, instagram.com/idsba, info@idsba.com
artwork
Top Left: ’Tangled Flames’, Gloriosa superba. Watercolor on paper © Eunike Nugroho
Known as flame lily, Gloriosa superba is a medicinal plant containing alkaloids like colchicine and gloriosine. Used in both traditional and modern medicine, it treats inflammation, parasites, and bacterial diseases. Locally, it’s also used to repel snakes and scorpions and to kill head lice.
Top Center: ‘Aren’, Arenga pinnata. Oil on canvas © Karyono Apik
All parts of Arenga pinnata have been used in Indonesia for centuries. The tree produces sugar, sap, and fibers. Its leaves serve as roofing, cigarette wrappers, packaging, rope, woven items, and broomsticks.
Top Right: ‘Forest Gem’, Musa lawitiensis. Waterclor on paper © L. Heranisvari
A wild banana relative from Borneo, known as pisang junai, was rediscovered in Bentuang Karimun National Park, West Kalimantan, in 1997. Its long, slender yellow fruit and red-orange inflorescence distinguish it from commonly consumed bananas.
Bottom Left: ’Pala’, Myristica fragrans. Watercolor on paper © Djoko Utomo
Endemic to Banda Island, nutmeg was once more valuable than gold. This spice, essential in cooking and traditional medicine, significantly impacted global trade and history. The nutmeg-rich Run Island was even exchanged for Manhattan, showcasing its immense historical value.
Bottom Center: ’Temu Ireng’, Curcuma aeruginosa. Watercolor on paper © Kurniati Rahmadini
Widely spread across Indonesia, this medicinal plant contains bioactive compounds like saponins, flavonoids, and polyphenols. It is traditionally used to treat ailments such as rheumatism, skin diseases, coughs, asthma, microbial infections, fungal infections, and as an antioxidant.
Bottom Right: ‘Star Fruit’, Averrhoa carambola. Watercolor on paper © Henny Herawati
Native to Indonesia, the star-shaped fruit is commonly grown in home gardens. Eaten fresh or used in salads, juices, jams, and jellies, it also serves as a laxative. The unripe fruit is used in dyeing, and its wood is good for firewood.
Botanical Art Worldwide 2018
The Diversity of Indonesian Flora
About this Exhibition
To realize the potential of rendering its biodiversity, a new organization, IDSBA, Indonesian Society of Botanical Artists was formed, consisting of botanical artists and several amateur botanists working together to present Indonesia’s exhibition for Botanical Art Worldwide. Over 60 works featuring native Indonesian plants are included in the exhibition, to be held in the Bogor Botanic Gardens on May 18-20, 2018. It is a beautiful coincidence that 18 May 2018 is the botanical garden’s 201st anniversary, thus a series of events of the celebration will hopefully attract more people to see the exhibition. Some of the fascinating plants of Indonesia are in the exhibition, including the Titan Arum, Nepenthes jamban, Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) and 19 different orchids. A tropical archipelago of 17,000 islands lying between Asia and Australia gives Indonesia such a diverse and distinctive flora.
Contact: info@idsba.com
Site: www.IDSBA.com
artwork
Reputed to be the largest of all orchids with its immense leafy stems, each several metres long and a flower stalk that can be up to 2.5 meters, sustains dozens of flowers. Grows in Borneo, Papua and some protected forests in Java. Karyono Apic painted its showy leaves, long and big inflorescence, and fully formed fruits in its natural habitat. He has diligently painted more than 200 orchid species and most of them are endemic to Indonesia.
Grammatophyllum speciosum, watercolor on paper, ©Karyono Apic 2015
Dendrobium spactabile, watercolor on paper, ©Eunike Nugroho 2015
For its unique characteristics, many people have exploited Dendrobium spectabile, causing it to become very rare. It is distributed along Papua and New Guinea, as well as the Solomon Islands, thriving in primary rainforests and mangrove swamps, commonly found at an elevation of 300-500 meters. Eunike Nugroho captured its unusual blossom in this watercolor painting beautifully. Her work was accepted to the Hunt Institute’s 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration in 2016 and became its permanent collection. She is also a member of American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).
Organizers
IDSBA (Indonesian Society of Botanical Artists)
Steering Committee
Eunike Nugroho
Andiriana Wisnu
exhibition Venue
Bogor Botanic Gardens
Bogor Botanic Gardens (Kebun Raya Bogor) is the oldest botanical garden in Southeast Asia. It was founded in 1817 and is currently operated by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). It covers an area of 87 hectares (210 acres), adjoining the gardens of the Presidential Palace. The precinct includes a laboratory, a library, herbaria, and guesthouses. Today the garden contains 13,983 specimens of trees and plants, belonging to 3373 species.
The exhibition will be held at Samida, a new building within the Bogor Botanical Gardens.
Photo credit: Courtesy Camelia Siagian
Location
Samida Building, Bogor Botanic Gardens, Ir. Haji Djuanda No.13, Paledang, Bogor, Tengah, Kota Bogor, Jawa Barat 16122, Indonesia