Butterfly Effect

On the ground floor of the exhibition space at the India Art Festival in Mumbai,amid the hundreds of paintings by Masters and up-and-coming names,is flourishing a strange rainforest. It is a brilliant splash of greens,blues and reds,but the striking factor is the multitude of butterflies that seem to call this their home. This work of art,titled Butterfly Rain,has been created by artist Seema Kohli and is an effort to draw attention of a dying species.

According to the artist,neither conservationists nor laymen seem to be taking the case of dwindling butterfly numbers seriously. “When I was growing up,there were so many butterflies everywhere. Now,it is getting difficult to find even one,” reminisces the Delhi-based artist.

Kohli adds that while national and global projects dealing with the preservation of animals such as the tiger are necessary,the smaller birds and insects seem to be getting sidelined. ‘Even when we do think about small species,we only think of the sparrow,” she says. With this exhibit,she wants people to ask themselves when they last saw a butterfly. And when they think they’ll see another one?