Elephant Parade India #HelpTheHathi
24 March 2018: The city of Mumbai came together last night to celebrate the closing ceremony and the final sale of gorgeous elephant sculptures for Elephant Parade India, officially launched last year on 12 August 2017 on the occasion of World Elephant Day 2017.
Surrounded by the iridescent creations and amazing people that have made this possible, the closing ceremony was hosted by Ruth Ganesh, Trustee, Elephant Family and patrons and supporters of Elephant family including Haseena Jethmalani, Akshay Chudasama, Alex Kuruvilla, Manish Malhotra, Sangita Jindal and Vikram Goyal.
The evening was a star studded event and was attended by artists, designers and celebrities including Dino Morea, Tanishaa Mukerji, Kim Sharma, Tanya Dubash, Mehr Jesia Rampal, Aarti Surendranath, Abhishek and Pragya kapoor, Siddhanth Kapoor, Elizabeth Hurley, Manish Malhotra, Varun Bahl, Sanjeev and Alyona Kapoor, Yash and Avanti Birla, Pratapsinh Gaekwad, Kanika Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Sophie Choudhary to name a few.
The first ever Elephant Parade India has been heralded as a resounding success with an outpouring of love and support from the public of Mumbai and has raised over 5.75 crore INR and rising for Elephant conservation in the country whilst capturing the public’s imagination and reaching an audience of 35 lakh people.
Following the parade announcement in August 2017, a selection of elephants travelled the country at special preview events in Jaipur, New Delhi and Kolkata before coming to Mumbai. In the last month, 101 spectacular elephant sculptures turned heads and melted hearts in staggering numbers as the city of Mumbai welcomed the #helpthehathi campaign with open arms making it the world’s biggest public art event.
Elephant sculptures were simultaneously sold at an online auction on Paddle8, to raise funds for their endangered wild cousins and their forest homes. The Elephant Parade India benefit auction featured a magnificent collection of sculptures by artists, designers, actors and celebrities including Amitabh Bachan, Shahrukh Khan and Abram Khan, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, L.N. Tallur, Manish Malhotra and Bhajju Shyam, winner of the Padma Shri Award 2018. Fashion, architecture, folk and fine art collided in this collection of powerful masterpieces created as an ode to their majestic endangered cousins – the wild Asian elephant.
Ruth Ganesh, Trustee Elephant Family, “Elephant Parade India has been truly supersonic. From a star-studded launch at the Gateway of India to overhearing 8 year olds talk intelligently about elephant corridors, it has succeeded on every level. We cannot thank the people of Mumbai enough for getting behind this campaign to raise awareness of India’s endangered elephants.”
Created as part of the UK India Year of Culture, Elephant Parade India is organised by Elephant Family in association with Good Earth and in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India. Ms. Poonam Mahajan, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and National President of the Bhartiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha is the Parade Ambassador. 100% of the proceeds generated through the online auction will be used to secure 101 crucial elephant corridors in India, the pathways that elephants depend upon to get from one forest feeding ground to the next.
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Notes to Editors
Elephant Family
Elephant Family is an international NGO dedicated to protecting the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild. In the last 100 years their population has plummeted by 90%. Wild habitat is shrinking at a rapid pace leading to an increasingly fierce competition between people and elephants for living space and food.
Poaching and demand for wild caught babies for tourism remain a constant threat. Since 2002 Elephant Family has funded 200 conservation projects and has raised over £10m through public art events for this endangered animal. Elephant Family funds pioneering projects across Asia to reconnect forest fragments, prevent human-elephant conflict and fight wildlife crime.
Supported by:
Joint Royal Presidents: TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and Patron His Highness
Maharaja Gaj Sing II of Marwar,Jodhpur
Website: www.elephant-family.org
Elephant Parade
Elephant Parade® is a social enterprise and runs the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues. Created by artists and celebrities, each Elephant Parade statue is a unique art piece. The life-size, baby elephant statues are exhibited in international cities and raise awareness for the need of elephant conservation. Limited edition, handcrafted replicas and a select range of products are created from the exhibition elephants.
Website: www.elephantparade.com
Wildlife Trust of India
Wildlife Trust of India is Elephant Family’s main conservation partner in India. WTI is a leading Indian nature conservation organisation committed to the service of nature. Its mission is to conserve wildlife and its habitat and to work for the welfare of individual wild animals, in partnership with communities and governments. WTI’s team of 150 dedicated professionals work towards achieving its vision of a secure natural heritage of India, in six priority landscapes, knit holistically together by seven key strategies or Big Ideas.
Website: www.wti.org.in
Good Earth
Good Earth is everyday luxury defined by an intense connection to nature, history, heritage and original design through an Indian prism. Our commitment to collaborating with artisan communities is rooted in an appreciation of our artisans as the wellspring of India’s creativity. At Good Earth, Sustainable Luxury is a passionate belief that we can support the planet and its people, in a meaningful and relevant way, through the revival of craft and cultural traditions. As India’s leading design house, we are known for our storytelling through surface design and sustaining the craft traditions of our culture. Our 10 shops in India as well as our web boutique – www.goodearth.in dynamically presents the many pieces of a lifestyle puzzle including: Apparel, Dining, Bed, Décor Accessories, Wellness, Gumdrops , Gifts and Cafés.
For regular updates, follow Elephant Parade India on:
Facebook : Elephant Parade Fan Instagram: @ elephantparadefan
India Contact:
Amrita Kapoor, Senior Account Manager, Flint
E: amrita.kapoor@flint-pr.com M: +91 9818058964
UK Contact:
E: info@elephant-family.org T: 0207 251 5099