Elephant Parade in Singapore

NeverSayGoodBye SG

Spot these unique pieces of art at various spots in Singapore.

If you spot an elephant or two in Orchard Road today, relax.

We assure you that they did not escape from the Singapore Zoo. The adorable jumbos are some of the 160 life-sized fibre glass baby elephants that make up the Elephant Parade, the largest open air art exhibition worldwide.
Painted by local and international artists, each elephant is a unique piece of art.

Local musician Dick Lee's piece, for example, is decorated with delightful pink stripes and sports a bright yellow earring.

Try spotting these artpieces at various spots in Singapore like Orchard Road, Marina Bay, Singapore Zoo, Raffles Place Green, Singapore Botanic Gardens and Vivocity.

If you fancy having one of these elephants at your home, consider bidding for one when the artworks at auctioned off by Sotheby's at the private auction events. Twenty per cent of the auction revenues will be donated to The Asian Elephant Foundation and 5% to Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund.

Hand painted miniatures are also available at the Elephant Parade Gallery Stores at TANGS Orchard & VivoCity.

Urdhaytb SG

beautiful elephants.

This reminded me of a story about a 75 year old indian spiritual master who lifted 12 elephants in Chiangmai, Thailand in 2007.

FireIce SG

got one or two kena vandalised?

βέτά SG

I thought they turning more MRT stations to white elephants.

Dalforce 25 SG

THE ELEPHANT AND THE BLIND MEN

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."

They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.

"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.

"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.

"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.

"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated.

A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like."

Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like.

The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right.

The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."

"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.

The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says.

Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too.

So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, "Maybe you have your reasons." This way we don’t get in arguments.

In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is.

It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking.

This is known as the Syadvada, Anekantvad, or the theory of Manifold Predictions.

http://www.jainworld.com/literature/story25.htm

NeverSayGoodBye SG

beautiful elephants.

This reminded me of a story about a 75 year old indian spiritual master who lifted 12 elephants in Chiangmai, Thailand in 2007.

12 elephants?! must be balloon elephants

NeverSayGoodBye SG

got one or two kena vandalised?

AsiaOne
Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011

Barely being displayed for two days, one of the baby elephant statues that are on display around town has already been vandalised.

The open-air art exhibition, Elephant Parade, is an attempt to raise awareness of the endangered Asian elephant, and consists of 162 brightly painted baby elephant statues.

The vandalised statue was on display outside the Asian Civilisations Museum in Empress Place.

A strip of green paint has been stripped off the left cheek of the elephant, exposing the brown base.

The statue's artist, Malaysian artist Hamir Soib, 42, has filed a complaint with the organisers, who are considering cordoning off some of the statues.

The Kuala Lumpur-based artist told The Straits Times on Sunday that he used at least five layers of acrylic paint and coated it with a lot of varnish to protect it while it was being transported.

"It would not have come off so easily...I believe it was scratched, and then peeled off."

The Straits Times reported that the strip of paint was found on the ground nearby.

Mr Hamir worked on the piece for three months and had been inspired to create an elephant with a strong Southeast Asian flavour.

His work has been removed for damage assessment.

Ms Marieke De Zeeuw, project manager of Elephant Parade, said that the statues were given a protective coating upon arrival to protect them from grafitti and the weather, therefore it was unlikely to have been damaged by the rain.

Ms De Zeeuw also said that regular inspections of the other elephants will be carried out and other "at risk" statues may be cordoned off.

She pointed out that children have been seen swinging themselves on the "stem" near the elephant's head on one of the statues at One Fullerton, which is painted to look like a three-dimensional durian.

Such statues and those made of fabric or are embellished may also be cordoned off.

Elephant Parade, which was founded in 2006 by father and son Marc and Mike Spits, has been hit by vandalism in the past.

The exhibition has been to cities such as Milan, Amsterdam, London and Antwerp. Singapore's parade is the first Asian instalment.

The baby elephant statues are 1.5m tall and were all painted by artists and celebrities. One of the elephants, named "Pretty & Pink" and designed by German jewellery designer Sabine Roemer, has a 3.3-carat diamond on it.

They will be auctioned in January by Sotheby's after their display, where a portion of the proceeds will go to The Asian Elephant Foundation, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund.

It is Mr Hamir's first time exhibiting his work in an outdoor show and is disheartened that his statue was mutilated.

"It's a shame this had to happen here - and to my elephant. I just can't believe it.

"This is not just about what happened to my work. I don't want this to happen to other people in future," said Mr Hamir.

NeverSayGoodBye SG

MINDS' Woodlands Gardens School and Woodlands Employment Development Centre take part in the Elephant Parade