Coral reef conservation will be a key message at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History this fall with an exhibition of the “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef.”

Interweaving the fields of science, mathematics, conservation, and art, this unique project creatively engages local communities to help raise awareness about the plight of the world’s coral reefs. Supported by the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), the Embassy of Australia, and the Quiksilver Foundation, the exhibition at the Smithsonian aims to educate the public about the urgent need to protect coral reefs. As the world’s oldest ecosystem, coral reefs are known for harboring the most concentrated biodiversity on the planet, supporting over 25 percent of all marine species and providing food, coastal protection, and income to one billion people around the world.

“CORAL is pleased to help support this exhibition of the Crochet Reef, as it shares the same principles as our own organizational mission of uniting communities to save coral reefs,” said Rick MacPherson, Conservation Programs Director for CORAL. “Sadly these ancient, beautiful, yet fragile ecosystems are dying from rising sea surface temperatures, coastal development, water contamination, overfishing, and other threats. It is absolutely critical that we take action now to increase the number of effectively managed marine protected areas worldwide so that both coral reefs and the communities that depend on them are able to thrive.”

“Wooliness and wetness aren’t exactly two concepts that you would initially pair together, but now this project reaches across five continents and has roots that extend into the fields of mathematics, marine biology, feminine handicraft, and environmental activism,” said Margaret Wertheim, renowned science writer and Director of the Institute For Figuring. “It’s taken on a viral dimension of its own, and in a beautiful way the development of the project parallels the evolution of life on Earth.”

Over the past five years, the Institute For Figuring has worked with communities all over the world to produce local “satellite” reefs in places as far-flung as Chicago, New York, London, Melbourne and Cape Town. In association with the exhibition opening this fall, the National Museum of Natural History has launched the Smithsonian Community Reef—the newest satellite of the Institutes’s global Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project. Leading up to the exhibition, local residents of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area will have the opportunity to participate in crocheting portions of the reef that will be on display.

Event Info:

October 16, 2010 – April 24, 2011

Sant Ocean Hall Focus Gallery
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History
Washington, D.C

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http://www.coral.org/