Thursday, November 17, 2011

Here come the Elephants! Elephant Parade Singapore 2011

I am a big fan of elephants. I guess it's something to do with having seen the African elephant in it's natural habitat on safari in South Africa which has to be one of my all time incredible experience.  For such lumbering great animals, there is something so beautiful, wise and yes, graceful about this phenomenal creatures which are capable of complex emotional functions of thought and feeling.

So I was very excited to hear that 162 brightly painted baby elephant statues by local and international artists would be taking over Singapore in the form of the Elephant Parade, having already done so in various other global cities including London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan but to name a few.  It's also a good sign that Singapore is starting to come up in the world in the global art scene.

Before we take a look at some of the elephants around Singapore, I just want to rewind to the story behind the Elephant Parade. It all started when Mosha, a baby Thai elephant lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. When founder Marc Spits learned of this he, together with his son Mike was inspired to set up Elephant Parade to co-finance Mosha's prosthetic leg.

Fast forward five years and Elephant Parade is on a crusade to become the world's largest financial supporter for the conservation of the Asian elephant. In case you don't know, the Asian elephant is smaller than their African cousins and while sacred they are also sadly highly exploited and endangered.


This is the Elephant Parade's first outing in Asia and through the exhibition the organizers hope to raise public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation.

Yesterday I stumbled across two of the installations by chance whilst out and about and so wanted to share them with you here.

Introducing...

At 313 Somerset

Hellaphunt by Ricky Gervais



A Circle of Life by Noppawan Nuansiri 



Zelda Zelliphant by Dick Lee 



At Marina Bay Sands

Damaged Dumbo  by Renato L. Barja Jr.



Don't Forget by Glen Goei



And Giddo by Bobby Chinn & Le Quang Ha  


So as you notice these beautiful baby elephants in various locations across Singapore, stop and take a while to reflect on their meaning and interpretation. You can check out all the other Elephants on display at the Elephant Parade website here

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very colourful, very different