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Saving Our Species: New Zealand Birds is Bevan Smith’s singular effort to provide a visual education about a serious conservation issue, with his stunningly realistic graphite pencil drawings.

After his sell-out debut show at Depot Artspace in 2016 with Animal Portraits, Smith has shifted his focus slightly to raise awareness of native birds in serious trouble.

He decided to concentrate on less iconic native birds facing the threat of extinction, birds that don’t have a high public profile or aren’t easily recognised by the general public.

“The exhibition was an idea I had after I'd drawn the first bird in the show; the fairy tern. I showed a few people and they liked the drawing but most didn't know what kind of bird it was. I found out through meeting keen bird photographers that there are so many endangered birds so poorly known by the public, they hardly get any protection at all,” says Smith.

New Zealand has 168 native bird species, 93 of which are endemic – this means they are found nowhere else in the world. The United Kingdom in comparison has one endemic bird species.  Currently, a third of all native birds are in serious trouble and nearly half face some trouble according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment report, Taonga of an island nation: Saving New Zealand's birds released in May 2017.[1]

Smith’s timely exhibition addresses the desperate situation for New Zealand native birds, due to the introduction of pests. Saving Our Species will also include visual interpretations of extinct birds, inviting the audience to contemplate an Aotearoa bereft of native birds. 

As Smith explains, “Auckland is a city with the largest number of people in NZ but here we seem to know the least about our native birdlife. In the Hauraki Gulf alone there are countless islands that are home to an incredible variety of birds so few Aucklander’s know about. I hope through the medium of art I can educate the public that many of NZ's birds are not well-known and under serious threat of extinction.”

Saving Our Species will showcase the diversity of New Zealand native birds, accompanied by detailed descriptions of each species along with the threat to its habitat and/or existence. The exhibition is kindly supported by Forest and Bird North Shore Branch and their Kiwi Conservation Club. 

Saving our Species: New Zealand Birds will officially open on Saturday 2 December, 2pm-3:30pm at Depot Artspace, 28 Clarence St, Devonport. 

The exhibition runs from 2 December – 20 December 2017.

[1] http://www.pce.parliament.nz/our-work/news-insights/native-birds-in-desperate-situation-says-environment-commissioner