Botanical Art Worldwide 2025
Philippines

Ani: Our Assets, Natural Heritage, and Cultural Identity

Above: Ink, tempera and watercolor on laid paper © Juan de Cuéllar
Left: Momordica cochinchinensis, Middle: Mussaenda philippica, Right: Paederia foetida

about the exhibition

The word ani, meaning “harvest”, holds a deep meaning to the cultural and natural heritage of the Filipino people. Located in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is one of the magadiverse countries in the world boasting an incredible diversity of plant resources. It is home to more than 10,000 species of vascular plants, half of which are found nowhere else on the planet. While many of the plants used in modern day agriculture in the country were introduced during the global trade in the Pacific, the vast majority of their native wild relatives are still underutilized and often overlooked despite their numerous potential in our food security and their hidden economic value.

In participation in the second Botanical Art Worldwide, the Philippine Botanical Art Society, in partnership with the National Museum of the Philippines, has come up with the exhibition Ani: Our Assets, Natural Heritage, and Cultural Identity, to celebrate the incredible diversity of the native plant resources of the country. The artworks showcase the various native crop wild relatives in the Philippines and their significance in identifying our natural resources and preserving the natural history and cultural identity of the Filipino people.

The exhibition aims to raise awareness and promote their urgent conservation of these vital resources among local communities. Further, this exhibition also presents a transdisciplinary view on the history and diversity of the various plants used by Filipinos for food, textiles, building, energy, and medicine through botanical illustrations, herbarium specimens, and material culture.

organizers

National Museum of the Philippines and Philippine Botanical Art Society

steering committee

Willa Freah Famoso Tac-an, founder of Philippine Botanical Art Society
Jhaydee Ann F. Pascual, M.Sc., curator of the Philippine National Herbarium and officer-in-charge of the Botany and National Herbarium Division of the National Museum of the Philippines
Jomar D. Hinolan, researcher of the Botany and National Herbarium Division of the National Museum of the Philippines