Smithsonian Community Reef

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About Smithsonian Community Reef

The Smithsonian Community Reef is a satellite of the worldwide Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring in Los Angeles. It was made possible through the support of the Quiksilver Foundation, the Embassy of Australia, and the Coral Reef Alliance.

Residents of the National Capital Area (DC, MD and VA), and anyone who loves the National Museum of Natural History, are invited to participate in crocheting coral for our local reef. Our community reef will be assembled under the guidance of the artists and displayed in the Museum along with the core collection of reef forms that will comprise the upcoming Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project’s temporary exhibit in the Sant Ocean Hall at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History from October 16, 2010 through April 17, 2011.

This Flickr group will serve as a hub and “virtual reef” for our all-volunteer effort. Membership is open to anyone who wants to contribute crocheted coral to the Smithsonian Community Reef, discuss the project, or share images of their own hyperbolic reef creations. Please join us! We need your help to make our local reef a success!

Keep an eye on this page for opportunities to build your hyperbolic crochet skills, information about how to submit your crocheted pieces when the time comes, and announcements about upcoming events and gatherings related to the exhibit. For more information, or to receive update via e-mail, please contact sicommunityreef@yahoo.com.

What is the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project?

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project is a collaborative fiber art exhibition created and curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring (IFF) in Los Angeles to raise awareness about threats to the world’s fragile coral reefs from global warming, pollution, development, and overfishing.

The Wertheims discovered that they could create an extraordinary likeness of a coral reef in crochet by varying a simple series of crocheted forms that were originally developed by Dr. Daina Taimina of Cornell University for use as mathematical models to demonstrate the principles of non-Euclidean geometry. With the help of many contributors who have joined in the effort, Margaret Wertheim describes the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project as one that has grown from a "reef" to an "archipelago of reefs" as it has traveled around the world drawing together aspects of marine biology, handicraft, mathematics, environmental awareness, and community art.

http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/hreef/index.html