ATLAS OF POETIC BOTANY - FRANCIS HALLÉ - 2016

Francis Hallé is our Indiana Jones of primary forests. Scientist, explorer, artist, he ventures, sketchbook in hand, into jungles across the globe to unearth plants worthy of legend—enigmatic, exuberant, and endowed with surprising abilities: the dancing plant, the walking tree, the strangler fig, Guzmania the hanging aquarium...

The Atlas of Poetic Botany is a collection of these living wonders, illustrating the adaptive genius of plants. The book functions like a cabinet of curiosities; it aims to awaken curiosity for the plant world. It reminds us that plants are gifted with an "intelligence" and a capacity for action that often exceed human perception.

For Francis, science and the magic of nature are not opposed. Far from arid taxonomy, the book proposes a poetic, sensitive, and visual approach to flora, where each species is presented for its unusual character and its adaptive genius.

His magnificent texts and sketches, naive and accessible, were exhibited at the Fondation Cartier in 2019 during the "Trees" exhibition.

Francis Hallé (born 1938) is a world-renowned French botanist and dendrologist (study of trees).

A former professor at the Institute of Botany in Montpellier, he is the undisputed specialist in the ecology of tropical forests and a fierce defender of the living world. He is particularly known for co-creating the Radeau des Cimes (Canopy Raft) research program, a method for exploring the canopy (the upper layer of forests), proving that there are no limits to knowledge and adventure. His work combines the sketchbook (as in the Atlas of Poetic Botany) with activism, seeking to move beyond anthropocentrism to reveal the genius and autonomy of plants.

• Dimensions : 27 x 19 cm

• Number of pages: 128 pages