The "Natural History and Politics" exhibition is being displayed at the EAFIT University located in Medellín, Colombia (November 2009 - February 2010).This exhibition results from an earlier exposition in 2008 at the Luis Angel Arango Library of the Republic Bank, supervised by the historian Mauricio Nieto Olarte and with the participation of the University Los Andes, EAFIT University and TBI Colombia. The subject is the exploration of nature by Europeans, especially Spaniards, during the Conquest, Colony and the Republican time. 

In this version of the exhibition, Amazon tree species are pictured in 50 drawings made by Abel Rodriguez, an indigenous man from the Nonuya clan, and other Amazon indigenous people. The drawings present their own vision of the world and are accompanied by botanical explanation cards.

The work of Abel Rodriguez clearly shows the local botanical knowledge and presents its own classification system for plants. It collects the traditional knowledge of each specie, with a detailed illustration and description, including stories or myths associated with a tree.

In the Center of Arts of the EAFIT University nearly two hundred wooden Amazon fish species made by indigenous people from the Amazon are being exhibited. This collection of the aquatic world demonstrates the deepness of the local knowledge about the aquatic fauna and the artistic talent of the forest dwellers and they are an aubade to biodiversity. This collection is the result of a project on the compilation of local knowledge about fish diversity, supported by TBI Colombia.

The exposition shows work of various artists, supported by other interesting features:

• *The engraving of Jan van der Straet 'America' (1638). It presents Amerigo Vespucci "discovering" America and is taken as a metaphor for the meeting between Europa and America.
• Important notes about how Cristobal Colon and other explorers interpreted the biodiversity.
• Additionally, the exhibition explains the processes of comprehension of the South-American nature and the appropriation of the indigenous knowledge by the colonists. For this reason, plants as tobacco, cocoa and even coca have a privileged place in the exhibition.

The selection of contemporary artists includes local artists as John Mario Ortiz, Susana Mejía and Jesús Abad Colorado.

Among the works provided by the Bank, there are two of the artist Liliana Arango, which present vision of the Colombian black people. The sample also includes pieces of painters like Noé León, Beatriz González of the Suramericana Collection, Antonio Caro provided by the Museum of Modern Art, Horizons of Carlos Uribe and from a private collection, among others.

This exhibition presents in a detailed way the discourses on natural history and its political consequences. The University provides a series of readings and conferences around the theme for 2010.

For more information on the exhibition at the EAFIT University, please follow this link
More information on the exihibition (in spanish)
Samples of the drawings made by Abel Rodriguez: