Once again, botanical artists around the world will join together to curate simultaneous
exhibitions of botanical art to raise awareness of the rejuvenation of this artform and bring
attention to plants and their importance to humanity. The 18th of May 2025 has been chosen
as the next Worldwide Day of Botanical Art. Exhibitions of original botanical art will be
curated by each participating country around the world based on the theme of Heritage
Crops. These exhibitions can be live, virtual, or both.

The second Botanical Art Worldwide Project will focus on and celebrate biodiversity in the
crops that have been closely associated with the human species over thousands of years.
The theme is designed to draw attention to the vast variety of food and useful plants
available, in contrast with the relatively few varieties currently used in mass
cultivation. Plants eligible for inclusion are those cultivated for food, textiles, building,
energy, and medicine.

Currently, many heritage species and varieties are only cultivated in small quantities by
specialist growers on a limited scale. It is vital to promote this genetic diversity in a world
challenged by a growing population, changing climate, and habitat losses.
Eligible subjects for the project:

Possible subjects include heritage plant cultivars developed by traditional means (selection,
hybridization, and propagation) and their wild relatives, as well as ancient heritage crops
being brought back into cultivation.

HERITAGE CROPS: Crops that are not used in modern, large scale monocultural agriculture.
Crops chosen should have been in cultivation for a minimum of 50 years.

CROP WILD RELATIVES: Wild species that can be hybridized with cultivated crops to impart a
new characteristic to the cultivated crop, or that are foraged wild plants.

ANCIENT CROPS: Those that have been cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years in the
same form.