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Ivan Mikolji’s work through his vast and detailed photographic documentation and as an explorer is very important when it comes to talking about scientific disclosure in Venezuela. His made a significant contribution since he makes the biological and scientific knowledge of our planet accessible to all through his pictures, observations and field trips. Ivan Mikolji is a science popularizer who seeks to show the language of nature and its processes in a way that is understandable and enjoyable for the public, far beyond the academic and scientific world.

Alberto Blanco Dávila
Editor-in-Chief of EXPLORA magazine, nature projects.

Mikolji’s authoring a new series of books, starting with Fishes of the Orinoco in the Wild.  Learn about species in Venezuela’s Orinoco river Basin.  You will have species description, fish and plant sympatries, geolocation, pH, temperature, and of course Mikolji’s adventures peppered in between.

Fearsome and fascinating, the piranha evokes all kinds of conjecture in peoples’ imagination. Distinguished by their uniquely-structured jaws, these ferocious creatures are designed for the kill and lie silently in wait for their unsuspecting prey beneath the waters of tropical rivers. 

Fearsome and fascinating, the piranha evokes all kinds of conjecture in peoples’ imagination. Distinguished by their uniquely-structured jaws, these ferocious creatures are designed for the kill and lie silently in wait for their unsuspecting prey beneath the waters of tropical rivers. 

Cardinal Tetras are my muse. Their intense blue and red colors awaken my creativity, evoking hours of artistic ideas, tests, and experiments. I look for ways to strip down the essence of this fish into simpler forms. I share this series with you as an example of one of these creative experiments. Free art catalogue download.

I have a very light veneration towards the sun and the moon. When I get out of a cold stream in the wild, shivering, and the sun warms me up, it makes me feel alive and fills me with a profound feeling of happiness. The same felicity comes to me as I lay in the wild looking up at the moon by night. It is hard to explain the feeling of pure humbleness that you acquire after spending a lot of time in the wilderness. Free art catalogue download.

In the series you will find titles as “Chiguao Redeye” which refers to the Serrasalmus rhombeus that George Fear and I found in the confluence between the Chiguao and the Paragua River. This rhombeus has yellow eyes and is one of the few paintings or drawings in the series which have no red in their eyes. Other titles as “Redeye Ghost” make reference to the crazy desire to search for new varieties of this fish. Free art catalogue download.

The Blue Fish Inspirational Tribute Series is my way to commemorate the very special people who inspired my work. Some of these people are very well known in the aquarium hobby and some are not; some I have never met in person or have since passed away.  All have made a profound impact on my life. Free art catalogue download.

The first time I saw Altum Angelfish (Pterophyllum altum) I fell in love with them immediately. They looked majestic, elegant; a superb creation of nature.⁠ I felt so moved I had to paint a tribute to them. Free art catalogue download.

In my 100+ expeditions throughout Venezuela, I was welcomed and helped by many “real” Venezuelans.  Getting to know and share with so many interesting people from so many different tribes gave me a better understanding of my place on earth. The Ichthyoform Series is my tribute to all of them. In this series, each artwork title references a tribe’s name, language, tribal chief’s name, or special words used in their language. Free art catalogue download.

For the past 50 years, the Ichthyology Laboratory of the Institute of Tropical Zoology of the Central University of Venezuela has been studying bioecological and systematic aspects of fish that inhabit permanent and temporary bodies of water (estuaries, pipes, rivers and flooded savannas) of the lower plain of Venezuela, mainly those located in the states of Apure, Anzoátegui, Barinas, Guárico and Portuguesa. This book, written in Spanish, contains the results of these studies.

Revision of the genus Apistogramma Regan 1913 (Perciformes, Cichlidae) in the Orinoco river basin / Lina M. Mesa S .; Carlos Andrés Lasso Alcalá. –Bogotá: Humboldt Institute, 2011. – Hydrobiological and continental fishing resources of Colombia, third editorial series.  Free download.  Spanish language only.

Wetlands of the Orinoquía (Colombia-Venezuela) / published by Carlos A. Lasso, Anabel Rial, Giuseppe Colonnello, Antonio Machado-Allison and Fernando Trujillo; Series Hydrobiological and ´Continental Fishing Resources of Colombia, XI – Bogotá: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Biological Resources Research, 2014.  Free download.  Spanish language only.