The Bird Tree #1 – Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal, Botanical Garden, Montréal, Québec

The Bird Tree was 16 metres tall and 18 metres in diameter at its crown. It was presented by the City of Montréal and created by the staff of Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal. The Bird Tree’s branches morph into 56 different bird species, while its roots change into a kakapo (also referred to as an owl parrot, the only parrot unable to fly) and six species of amphibians and reptiles. All these species – birds, amphibians, reptiles – are among the most endangered on Earth, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Québec’s indigenous Red-headed Woodpecker and Piping Plover are some of the species shown flying away from The Bird Tree, as though they were trying to escape the extinction that threatens them and that has already decimated Labrador’s Eider population and eliminated the Dodo and the Passenger Pigeon. A salamander, a turtle, a frog and an iguana emerge from the roots. The bird tree is planted in the middle of a basin to symbolize the mangroves of Sundarban, coastal ecosystems of tremendous biological abundance that are seriously threatened. The Bird Tree represents nature in its wild state, something humans must preserve at all costs.

For a description of the art of Mosaiculture and of the Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal competition, please turn to the first photo in this series at:

www.ipernity.com/doc/jonathan.cohen/33872015