Din the shadow of COP30 in Belem on climate, another international conference will open on November 24 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 20e The Conference of the Parties to Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) could determine the fate of a two-century-old craft: bow making. European diplomacy is on alert but the game is close.
At stake is pernambuco, a blood-red Brazilian juice essential for making violin bows. Dense, tough, capable of improving a violin’s sound by 30 to 40% in the hands of a professional, this wood has no equal. Carbon bows don’t have the same acoustic properties according to musicians. The modern bow, discovered…
