 Forest Project - 木, 林, 森 Project
Through art, culture, education, the involvement of local folks, and the internet, Xu Bing’s Forest Project creates a system to facilitate the automatic and uninterrupted flow of funds from developed countries to Kenya, earmarked for the planting of new trees.
Forest Project seeks to establish a self-sustaining system linking these two worlds symbiotically through auctions of artwork created by students from primary schools in the Mount Kenya National Park area.
The educational component—embodied in an instructional book and workshops led by artist Xu Bing—connects the written word, calligraphy and art into one process. Students from local primary schools create drawings of trees using forms of writing from a variety of cultures and historical periods, spanning ancient Chinese pictographs, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Cuneiform script, Arabic, English and more.
The income and price disparities between more developed nations and Kenya form the basis for the success of this project. Two dollars is a pittance for many in the West, just enough for a one-way ride on the subway, but when used to purchase a piece of art created by a student in Kenya, it can be converted into 10 newly planted seedlings.
The success of this project depends on you. Please visit the gallery of student work, register for an account and bid!
Currently all proceeds from the sale of student art work will go the Bill Woodley Mount Kenya Trust, a Kenya based organization dedicated to preserving the Mount Kenya ecosystem.
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