Guwahati, Nov. 29: For two days at a cultural centre in Bangalore next month, hornbills would be "hovering" all over like they do in a forest.
While Aparajita Datta, a scientist from Bangalore-based Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) will talk about hornbill conservation in Arunachal Pradesh, wildlife cartoonist Rohan Chakravarthy will narrate his journey of using art and humour for hornbill conservation. There will be a short film which will put the viewers in the midst of all the actions.
The two-day event - Art for Hornbills - an exhibition at Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, on December 5-6 will display original paintings and prints for sale.
The cause is a noble one as 80 per cent of the sales from these art pieces will be donated to the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme in Arunachal to support its efforts in the field.
Hornbills have been "captured" through ink, watercolour, oil, acrylic, still and video cameras. Eleven artists featured in this show are working closely with conservationists and scientists of the adoption programme.
"Each art piece intends to spark a conversation on how wildlife and forests are vital to our wellbeing and what we can do to foster this mutually-enriching connection. The way each nest is cared for and looked after by an individual of the Nyishi community, each art piece is well thought out and executed with love and care by the artists," Aparajita Datta told this correspondent.
The programme is being held at a time when the Hornbill Festival in Kohima will be going on.
Members of the Nyishi community who reside in the forests around Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh use the beaks and casques of hornbills, especially the great hornbills, in their traditional headgears.
Datta said: "Many of the pieces will be offered at the cost of adopting a nest to encourage more urban citizens to become 'hornbill parents'.
Every piece sold will support the birds, the Nyishi community and the forests of Arunachal Pradesh," she said.
The exhibition has been conceptualised by San Francisco-based visual artist Mallika Prakash who was inspired by the nest adoption programme and became a "hornbill parent" by contributing towards the cause.
The NCF started Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme in Arunachal Pradesh in 2011 to protect hornbills and trees where they nest. The NCF partners with Ghora-Aabhe Society (a Nyishi community institution) and the Arunachal Pradesh forest department. There are four hornbill species in Pakke - the great hornbill, wreathed hornbill, rufous-necked hornbill and the oriental pied hornbill.
The adoption programme has followed a two-step approach, wherein the Nyishi nest protectors find, monitor and protect hornbill nests and roosts; while people far away "adopt" nests and contribute financially towards providing income and other benefits to members of the Nyishi community to look after hornbills.
Datta says the Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme now has led to protection of 33 hornbill nest trees and successful fledging of 60 hornbill chicks by members of the Nyishi community. Some of them earlier would hunt the birds.
"Urban donors have been involved with the nest-adoption programme in a variety of ways - from volunteering to monitor nests and organise hornbill festivals in their cities to raise awareness," she added.
