Making the World Smile - Mali the Sheepdog, at the Montreal Botanical Garden

I was looking through some photos recently of garden sculptures and topiarys, when I remembered the photos I had taken last summer of Mali the Sheepdog at the Montreal Botanical Garden - which is a world leader in mosaiculture art and technology.
This enormous dog greets the guests who have come to visit the gardens.  It measures approximately 6 foot tall and is a living mosaiculture made from an ornamental grass, Weeping Brown Sedge, Carex flagellifera ('Bronzita').  Mali on loan to the Botanical Garden as a way of sharing part of the piece created by International Mosaiculture of Montreal (MIM) as Montreal's entry in the 2009 Hamamatsu International Mosaiculture event in Japan.  The work was inspired by the Frederic Back film "The Man Who Planted Trees", and took the top international jury award and the "people's choice" award at that event.


The piece symbolizes both nature and culture, along with the story of a single man who transformed an entire landscape through his own actions.  It is hoped, that through actions...big or small...people will re-connect with nature and help change the world.


Mali was absolutely wonderful to see, but what was really nice was watching the expressions on the faces of the visitors who went up close to take a look.  Pure delight and wonder. 
All kinds of artwork is created in this world for all kinds of reasons and intentions.  It's always nice to see pieces that make people smile...