After travelling across nations, robotic plant 'Econario' reaches Bihar museum in India

A well-known robotic plant "Econario," which is considered a remarkable artwork, is on display at the ongoing Bihar Museum Biennale 2023 in Patna, the capital city of the Indian state of Bihar.

As part of the "Together We Art" initiative, which centres around India's G20 Presidency theme of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—One Earth, One Family, One Future, this exhibition embodies the interconnection between our choices today and the future of our planet.

Econario, commissioned by the British Council, grows on Natural History Museum biodiversity data to demonstrate the impact of choices we are making now on the future of the natural world.

The five-metre-tall robotic plant has been created by ecological artist Thijs Biersteker using biodiversity data from the Natural History Museum to create a (literally) moving monument to the importance of the choices we are making now for the future of our planet.

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‘Econario’ provides a powerful representation of how choices society makes today will affect the state of nature over the next 30 years.

A reflection of natural biodiversity

The robotic plant moves like a small fragile seedling, growing, not with the help of nutrients, but driven by changes over time in the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) – a metric developed by the Natural History Museum as a measure of how much of a region’s natural biodiversity still persists.

The BII is a rigorous approach to estimating biodiversity loss that combines data on ecosystems and species populations with data on human-caused pressures like land use.

When the artwork is folded, the plant has an industrial look, but as biodiversity increases and the work unfolds, the plant-like motion gives the work an organic feel. As the artwork switches between countries, it shows the biodiversity intactness in 2050 based on five different political scenarios we, as a society, can choose today.

Reflecting on a choice 'we still have'

The artwork makes technical data and statistics resonate on a personal level by representing data from the location where the work is being exhibited. It is showing us a choice in a time when we still have a choice.

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‘Econario’ has been exhibited at museums like the Kunstkerk (NL) and conferences like COP15 in Montreal and the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Speaking about his creation to WION, ecological artist Thijs Biersteker said, “I always wanted to make an artwork that shows how woven our environmental choices of today are with that of our future. The BII data from the Natural History Museum gives a small glimpse of those futures. Now people can see it play out in front of them.”

Talking about the British Council's efforts in bringing Econario in India, MBE, Director India Alison Barrett said to WION, ‘”The collaboration between the Natural History Museum in the UK and artist Thijs Biersteker is an astonishing creative response to our most pressing global challenge, climate change, bringing arts and science together as insipiration for collective action to protect the planet. The British Council is delighted to shine the spotlight on the incredible robotic plant Econario for the G20 in India.”

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