Niagara Parks in Ontario has announced the launch of a new exhibit by Dr. Roberta Bondar at the Butterfly Conservatory — Patterns & Parallels: The Great Imperative to Survive. Running to Dec.
8 at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, Patterns & Parallels is a photography exhibit by Bondar. It offers a compelling look at the migratory patterns and challenges faced by at-risk bird species, including the whooping crane, lesser flamingo and piping plover. Created in collaboration with NASA, it features Bondar’s breathtaking images taken from the air and land and NASA’s images from space.
Bondar, the first female Canadian astronaut and an internationally recognized photographer, has travelled the world to capture the beauty of life on earth and uses her work to raise awareness for environmental conservation. With over three billion birds lost from Canada and the United States since 1970 due to the impacts of climate change across North America, the exhibit emphasizes the critical need to protect these species and the ecosystems they depend on. The exhibit is also a key part of the Roberta Bondar Foundation’s Space For Birds Project, which uses photography to create a visual narrative that helps us understand the biodiversity of nature and the impact of human actions and climate change on bird migration and habitat loss.
Patterns & Parallels was first launched at the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Bondar’s hometown.
It then travelled to Science North in Sudbury and the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre at Humber College in Toronto before arriving at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, where it will remain on display until Dec. 8. The exhibit will continue to other venues in Ontario before moving across Canada over the next two years.
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