Do Elephants Make Art?

Like many artists I draw much of my inspiration, and subject matter, from the natural world around me.

So it concerns me when I hear that habitats are under threat in many parts of the world.

Today it has been brought to my attention that the largest population of Asian elephants is under threat due to planned development encroaching on already shrinking wilderness corridors.

Environmentalists are addressing this issue and there are many ways to help. Currently there is a campaign targeting the relevant Indian government officials via email.

For more information about the plight of the elephants, or to send your own email, visit http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/e/appeal.htm. The friendly folks at the Rainforest Information Centre have even drafted a sample email which you can copy and paste, or better yet, you can write your own. (There are many other groups that are elephant friendly and I have put together a list of links below for anyone interested.)

But what has this got to do with elephants making art I hear you ask? Well one of these groups, the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project, has come up with a novel way to raise funds for elephants by selling artwork made by yep, you guessed it, elephants.

Whether you agree with the ethics of this practice or not, the work is worth seeing because guess what? Elephants make pretty good artists! And they are fetching pretty decent prices for their work too. Could this be a novel marketing ploy for human artists? i.e. I am an endangered species of artist, please buy my work so that I do not become extinct. (Just kidding)

But seriously, it is not surprising that elephants can do this given that they can live up to around eighty years and must have accumulated a wealth of visual information to draw upon. Knowing that elephants can make art makes it all the more saddening to me to contemplate that around a thousand of these magnificent friends could be facing such a serious threat to their continued survival in the wild.

So if, like me, this concerns you and you want to help, visit the Rainforest Information Centre or one of the sites listed below and help a fellow artist today.


Wildlife Conservation Society
http://www.wcs.org/

Elephant facts and information database
http://www.elephant.se/

Wildlife SO S
http://www.wildlifesos.org/

Friends of the elephant
http://www.betuwe.net/olifantvriend/

Asian Elephant Art and conservation Project
http://www.elephantart.com/