Give our Asian elephants a big Ang Pao this lunar new year by participating in the Elephant Parade!
I was first introduced to the Elephant Parade by my cousin Belynda when she encouraged me to ‘buy’ an elephant. I remember my first reaction was…
‘Say what?!’
Intrigued, I googled the ‘Elephant Parade’ and found a whole lot of information about it.
The Elephant parade project is spearheaded by father and son Marc and Mike Pits. The idea was conceptualized after they met a baby elephant Mosha, that had lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. To raise funds for Mosha and other elephants in similar predicaments, they founded the Elephant Parade.
Meet Mosha.
Mosha has since received a prosthetic leg, which was co-financed by the Elephant Parade.
So how did Belynda get to know about the Elephant Parade?
Her school, Diploma in Retail Management in Temasek Polytechnic (TP) partnered TANGS for an Elephant Parade Singapore Workshop held in TP last year. She attended the workshop and thought it’s a meaningful cause to support. Besides decorating elephants and letting creative juices flow, she also learnt the importance of elephant conservation and the urgency to do something now to help these animals.
If you’re still confused and curious about the value of the Elephant Parade, don’t worry. I’ve compiled the following Elephant Parade Fact List for your information.
Elephant Parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition of decorated elephant statues
The open air art exhibitions has created worldwide attention, public awareness and support for the cause of elephant conservation (the elephant statues never go unnoticed by the wider public and mass media)
Painted by local and international artists, each elephant is a unique piece of art. After the exhibition, all elephants are auctioned off by a leading auction house.
Elephant Parade’s concept is a unique combination of Art, Business and Charity. Art drives the value of the Elephant Parade: the life size elephant statues are exhibited in well-known cities and auctioned off at prestigious gala events. Smaller size hand painted limited edition replicas are sold in ‘Elephant Parade Gallery Stores’ and the Webshop. The more superior the quality of the Art, the more successful the Business, the higher the amounts raised for Charity.
Elephant Parade is not a charity, but it is probably the most charitable enterprise in the world. Part of all proceeds from Elephant Parade auctions and retail benefits various projects and organizations, dedicated to the conservation of the Asian elephant. To date, this unique concept made it possible to contribute over 4 million Euros to this goal, and is put to good use in projects varying from elephant hospitals and corridors to lobbying governments and research.
Source: elephantparade.com
So how can you help?
Support by buying an elephant!
The elephants are painted by local and international artists. Here are some familiar names – Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Palin, Sarah, Duchess of York, Goldie Hawn, Lulu Guinness, Dick Lee and even our former president, Mr. S. R. Nathan!
This is Mr Nathan’s work – the Calligraphic Elephant.
I bought an elephant too!
Happiness Maximus by William Sim
I got my 10cm (priced at SGD59) elephant at Temasek Polytechnic’s 1st Avenue Retail Studio.
There are other sizes available and you can check them out at Elephant Parade Webshop.
Many elephants have been saved by the Elephant Parade and The Asian Elephant Foundation but many more elephants are still desperate for our support.
Many animals have gone extinct since the start of this century such as the Golden Toad, Baiji Dolphin, Pyrenean Ibex and many more. I’m sure you don’t want our Asian elephants to suffer the same fate.
So visit www.elephantparade.com to find out how you can lend a helping hand to these elephants.
Paint a brighter future for the Asian Elephants today.
Your friend, Juliana
Disclaimer: I’m not an official spokesperson for any of the organizations mentioned so the views expressed in this blog post does not necessarily reflect those of the organizations.