As a seasoned gamer with a heart for art and a passion for conservation, I must say that The Great Elephant Migration is nothing short of breathtaking! Having traversed countless virtual worlds, I can confidently assert that this real-life migration of sculptural elephants through the concrete jungle of New York City is an experience that rivals any epic adventure in my gaming life.
Instead of elephants marching through New York City, it’s actually a group of elephant sculptures making their way through the city. This massive outdoor public art display, known as “The Great Elephant Migration,” features 100 life-sized pieces carefully created by 200 Indigenous artists over the past five years. Some are comparing this event to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “The Gates” in 2005, which was another significant public art intervention in New York City.
The touring exhibition is produced by South India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) and is on view in the Meatpacking District till next month. British animal rights activist Ruth Ganesh co-founded NBR with Indian elephant researcher Tarsh Thekaekara to solve two problems at once: firstly, utilize an invasive weed called lantana camara, which has threatened a number of ecosystems across India; while simultaneously raising funds for larger global issue threatening the world’s natural habitats. NBR has raised $1m USD thus far, which will go on to benefit a number of wildlife conservation groups, such as the WWF and New York’s Wild Bird Fund.
Each sculpture can be purchased for approximately between $8,000 and $22,000 USD. These sculptures are modeled after real elephants that Thekaekara’s wife spends several months crafting by hand. Curator Dodie Kazanjian described the concept of 100 such Indian elephant sculptures traveling across America as a grand, dramatic, and emotionally stirring piece of live art. She added, “In my mind, these elephant statues seem to originate from the exceptional royal elephant portrait paintings of the 16th-to-18th centuries, where each elephant had its own name.
After landing in Rhode Island last July, the Great Elephant Migration’s itinerary continues to Art Basel Miami Beach before heading northwest to Montana and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, followed by Los Angeles and concluding in Houston. The migration will be exhibited in New York until October 20, 2024.
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2024-09-11 00:55