The Elephant Parade has been a European phenomenon that
happened to invade Luxembourg this year (as well as the neighboring German town
Trier). It is organized by the Asian Elephant Foundation and the whole charity
started with an elephant named Mosha who damaged its front right foot, and
needed a cast to help it get better. This cast was then painted, and the people
looking after Mosha realized they could make full body moulds of elephants. To
fundraise for the Asian Elephants European companies sponsor artists to make
designs on the elephant moulds and create something new and different on the
given form. These elephants are then sold at about 20,000 euros each, to
support the elephants.
Now that this non-profit organization has become pretty
famous Elephant Parade stores appear in each country hosting the new Elephants.
Not only is this benefiting the elephants but also local artists get huge
amounts of exposure and cities become more of a tourist destination.
I just happen to love elephants. This past weekend I even
went to Germany to see the elephants in Trier. My friends think I’m obsessed
just because I bought the book, and the magnets and a mini elephant, and I
freak out whenever I see a new one. (Ok, maybe I’m a little obsessed) I even dragged my friend Gabi around too see some of the ones in Luxembourg. Next year
I’m hoping to spend a month of my time in Thailand to look after elephants, so
maybe this is destiny telling me I need to have elephants in my life, or
something like that. Maybe I just like them because they’re cute.
Here’s the Elephant Parade website: http://www.elephantparade.com/index.php/home/
And here’s the store where you can buy elephants: http://www.elephantparadewebshop.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment