“Mummy, mummy, look at this one”, “What the devil is that?”, “I never knew there was so much”, “All this is in La Paz?”, “Is that a photo or a painting”, “We have to take care of our natural heritage”. Just some of the publics comments from an exceptional photography exhibition about Madidi National Parks record-breaking biodiversity that wowed 13,000 people during the Night of the Museums in La Paz on the 17th of May. A combination of beautiful images accompanied by short and accessible biodiversity conservation messages left people astounded. Many people questioned whether it was really true that Madidi and La Paz had some of the flora and fauna on display.
WCS scientist Rob Wallace said, “Madidi is a record-breaker but is not yet accessible to most Bolivians, we are committed to sharing information and images from this wild treasure trove with La Paz, Bolivia and beyond, and Saturday night was a dream come true for those of us lucky enough to regularly visit the park. In a constant 7 hour stream of visitors, people were visibly inspired and moved by Mileniusz’s remarkable range of images from a simply stunning park”.
Mileniusz Spanowicz received an ovation at a formal opening event later in the week but was quick to say, “I am not the star here, rather the incredible animals and plants of this truly amazing place, and I am privileged to be able to share these images with Bolivia. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has supported my photography over the last decade, provided important scientific backstopping for images, as well being instrumental in the organization of this event – I cannot thank them enough”.
The “Portraits of Madidi: Photographs of the Biodiversity of northern La Paz” exhibition by Bolivian-Polish photographer Mileniusz Spanowicz opened officially on Tuesday 20th of May at the National Ethnography and Folklore Museum (MUSEF) in La Paz and runs until Saturday 31st of May. The exhibition was organized and opened by WCS in partnership with the Mother Earth and Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the La Paz Department, the National Park Service (SERNAP), the Cultural Foundation of the Central Bank of Bolivia, MUSEF, the Institute of Ecology, San Andres University, and the National Biocultural Program.
“Connecting people with nature is one of the cornerstones of WCS’s mission” said Lilian Painter, the WCS Bolivia country director, “Bolivia is one of the world’s megadiverse countries and has the world’s most biologically diverse park, yet much of this richness is unknown to Bolivia’s growing urban population. WCS is committed to helping the Bolivian government change that and we are proud to be partnering in such a superb example of outreach and education”.
Johnson Jimenez, the President of the Mother Earth and Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the La Paz Department said “It is a great pride for us to have the world’s most biologically diverse protected area and we are committed to promoting Madidi park as a tourism location thereby providing development opportunities for the rural and urban people of La Paz Department”.
The success of the photographic exhibition at the MUSEF has led to further opportunities at other cultural locations in Bolivia. Between the 9th and 15th of June, a smaller sample of photographs was exhibited in the Mario Mercado Gallery at the Cinemateca Boliviana. Also, a selection of photographs were displayed at the G77+ China meeting in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, one of the most important international meetings organized by Bolivia. Similar exhibitions will be held in the cities of El Alto, Sucre, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz in the coming months. The power of the images and their message content will unveil the diversity and natural beauty of Bolivia.