Paper short abstract:

This presentation will explore the global interplay of cosmopolitan aesthetics and ecological nativism by discussing how an artistic motif of French impressionism has become a media shorthand for a community-based freshwater biodiversity conservation initiative in Tokyo, Japan.

Paper long abstract:

Aesthetics is expected to play a positive role in biodiversity conservation. Categories such as the beautiful and the picturesque have shaped the development of environmental attitudes and the creation of blue-green spaces such as nature reserves and city parks. But what exactly is that role in urban freshwater biodiversity conservation practices today?

This presentation introduces a case in which a social media influencer commented that a pond in Tokyo, which had been the focus of an on-going, community-based conservation project, bears a resemblance to the water lily paintings of the French artist Claude Monet (1840-1926). For this community and the journalists covering local environmental news, “Monet’s pond” may be a shorthand for a waterscape that is both exquisite in its beauty and healthy in its ecological balance. Yet behind this casual commentary is a long and tangled global history of aesthetic sensibilities and attitudes concerning the natural world, much of which have informed the design of urban parks, the visual arts, and the art of cultivating plant and animal species. Of note is the ethics concerning the relocation of species: biological nativism that informs many conservation initiatives in Japan, such as the eradication of nonnative invasive species, are at odds with the cosmopolitan constitution of urban ecologies and the aesthetic legacy of celebrating species mobility.

This presentation will examine key nodes in the history of exchange between Monet’s pond and this pond in Tokyo. We locate the initial moment of exchange about a century ago in Japonism, the global popularity of Japanese gardens and horticultural breeding, and the use of Western principles in Japanese park design. This past moment is linked to the present moment in biodiversity conservation practices, global proliferation of Monet’s water lily paintings, and the aestheticized representation of cosmopolitan species and people. By attending to this interplay of ideas, materialities, and life, we offer to elucidate the dynamic tension between aesthetics and ethics in today’s urban ecological conservation initiatives.