Ghosts of gone birds.

It is rare that the birding and art worlds come together. It is even rarer that they bring in some of the greatest artists in the world, along with poets, authors such as Margaret Atwood and musicians such as Doves, Gorillaz and Blur. For this project the brief, given to 120 artists, was to produce a piece of work based loosely on one or more extinct birds, with proceeds from sales going to BirdLife International. The results exceeded the curator’s wildest dreams, the exhibition in London was a sensation, with the people involved representing a who’s who of British art, Sir Peter Blake, Ben Newman, Billy Childlish, along with renowned bird artists such as Bruce Pearson and Carry Akroyd. This book features art from the event along with text by the artists themselves. It is glossy, colourful and rich and a fitting testament to the exhibition and to the birds whose demise inspired it.