Animais do Bosque Real is an art-education and environmental awareness project that brings to life, in real size, species of Brazilian fauna threatened with extinction, listed in the Red Book of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction — which the artist names as "the Brazilian book of death."
The project began with the Anta Brasileira e o Brasileiro Anta (Tapirus terrestris), the largest terrestrial animal in Brazil and the most efficient seed disperser in the country's fauna. Its extinction would cause an indescribable impact on Brazilian biomes, compromising forest regeneration and biodiversity as a whole. The life-size sculpture — 2 meters long by 1.8 meters tall — was first presented in December 2021 at Praça da Nascente, in São Paulo, and later exhibited virtually at Galeria Mar Ritmos, in Santa Catarina.
The project expanded to the Funarte Foundation in São Paulo, with the construction of other endangered animals, also in cardboard and in their real dimensions. The tapir's head appeared on the wall as a "hunting trophy," provoking a critical reflection on violence and the consumption of nature. Each sculpture is accompanied by information about the species' environmental impact, curiosities, eating habits, the waste it produces, the paths it travels, and its relationship with human beings.
The exhibition title references the literary series The Animals of Farthing Wood (in Brazil, Animais do Bosque dos Vinténs), which tells the story of a group of animals searching for a new home after the destruction of their habitat. "Real" is the current currency in Brazil and also means "reality" — establishing a dialogue between fiction and the urgent reality of the ecological crisis.
Animais do Bosque Real is therefore a call to action. More than informing, the project seeks to raise awareness, mobilize, and transform the public's relationship with nature, reminding us that each extinct species is a page torn from the book of life.
