'The Great Elephant Migration' 2024

"The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity - then we will treat each other with greater respect. Thus is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective."

- David Suzuki

100 Life Sized Indian Elephant Sculptures Embark on Symbolic U.S Journey

The Great Elephant Migration is a global fundraising adventure to amplify indigenous knowledge and inspire the human race, to share space. A collaboration between indigenous artisans, contemporary artists and cultural institutions, it will raise millions of dollars to power human-wildlife coexistence projects and protect migratory animals making spectacular journeys across land, rivers, skies and oceans. It will travel through the unceded traditional lands, waters, and territories, of the Narragansett, Lenape, Tequesta, Calusa, Miccosukee, Seminole, Shoshone-Bannock, Apsaalooké (Crow), Eastern Shoshone, Cheyenne, Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash Peoples. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced occupation of their territory. In gratitude, we honor the wisdom of past, present, and future elders and community members, and the enduring strength of their cultures and connections to the earth.

The Exhibition & Route

The USA exhibition follows an expansive UK tour in 2021, which attracted 5 million spectators and marks the first time the travelling public art exhibition and fundraising initiative will arrive in America. The year-long campaign across the United States aims to support indigenous-led conservation efforts and inspire peaceful human and animal coexistence worldwide.

Starting in Newport (RI) in July 2024, the 3,500-mile migration will take the elephant sculptures to New York City, Miami South Beach, the Buffalo Pastures in Browning, Montana, and Los Angeles. The exhibition promises to spread joy and wonder wherever they travel. 

ABOUT THE GREAT ELEPHANT MIGRATION

100 magnificent Indian Elephants are migrating across the USA to share their story with the world. The Great Elephant Migration is a global fundraising adventure to amplify indigenous knowledge and inspire the human race to share space. A collaboration between indigenous artisans, contemporary artists and cultural institutions, it will raise millions of dollars to power human-wildlifecoexistence projects and protect migratory animals making spectacular journeys across land, rivers and oceans. As the elephants travel the world, they will tell the story of Asia’s wild elephants and the indigenous communities living alongside them, where people and elephants coexist in the densest populations in the world.

MEET THE MATRIARCHY

The Matriarchy is composed of 100 influential female environmentalists, creatives, storytellers and philanthropists who will help rally support for ‘The Great Elephant Migration’s’ objectives. These women have made indelible marks across various artistic disciplines. From music to cinema, their creative contributions enrich the cultural landscape of this generation and shed light on some of the environmental challenges facing our planet and to help us inspire the human race to share space and protect our planet.

THE MAKERS

These elephants have been created by 200 indigenous artisans, who make up The Coexistence Collective. They belong to the Bettakurumba, Paniya, Kattunayakan and Soliga communities who see everything in nature as being alive and having a soul. The wind has a spirit, whispering secrets to the trees as she moves through. The stars, rocks, rivers, trees, plants and animals are all part of a big family. This way of looking at the world is rooted in mutual respect and reciprocity. Humans are a part of a larger web of life, where everything is interconnected. If we behave respectfully towards the elephants, they are expected to behave well in return. When we harm other beings, we harm the earth and we harm ourselves.

ABOUT THE ART

The 100 life-sized Indian elephants are hand-crafted from invasive Lantana Weed. Lantana Camara is one of the world’s most invasive weeds. This fast growing, noxious shrub has a stranglehold on 300,000 sq. kilometers of India’s Protected Areas, pushing animals out of their forest homes into urban areas. The creation of the herd stimulates its large scale removal and rewards communities for their ability to coexist with the world’s biggest land mammal. Each elephant in the 100-strong herd has been created by The Coexistence Collective, a community of 200 indigenous artisans from communities in India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu. The collective has recreated every elephant they live alongside using one of the world’s top invasive weeds, Lantana Camara, which encroaches upon over 40% of India's protected areas. Each elephant is twinned with a conservation NGO in the USA and beyond, whose work will directly benefit from the sale of their sculpture. The collective has spent the past five years replicating every elephant they live alongside in intricately detailed sculptural form. Like many indigenous cultures around the world, these communities have extensive knowledge of nature and wildlife based on generations of observation and experience.

IMPACT

Combining the arts, applied conservation and scientific research, The Great Elephant Migration delivers a virtuous circle of positive impacts, for all living beings. The four key impacts are listed below.

1. THE CREATION OF THE HERD IS BUILDING THE BIGGEST SUSTAINABLE INDIGENOUS ENTERPRISE IN INDIA

The creation of the elephant sculptures provides financial stability, status and pride to 200 members of the Soliga, Bettakurumba, Kattunayakan and Paniya communities, who coexist with the real wild elephants the herd is based on.

2. HUMAN-WILDLIFE COEXISTENCE

Each elephant is twinned with a conservation NGO whose work directly benefits from its sale, to power coexistence projects in the USA and beyond.

3. INVASIVE SPECIES REMOVAL

Each elephant is made from Lantana camara, one of the world’s top invasive weeds, which has entangled 40% of South India’s Protected Areas, and diminished food sources for herbivores. Invasive species pose a serious threat to global biodiversity and are a significant driver in 60% of plant and animal extinctions.

4. CARBON SEQUESTRATION

The Great Elephant Migration is supporting a large-scale initiative to shred vast areas of invasive Lantana, the weed the elephants are made with, from India’s Protected Areas and convert it into biochar. By the end of 2025, we will have sequestered 2625 tons of carbon and created more than 500 jobs for indigenous communities through this effort. The total estimated carbon emissions for the creation, shipping and transportation of the herd is between 250 and 400 tons, depending on the exact vehicles used. A detailed carbon projection report is available from July 4th, and a complete carbon emission and sequestration audit will be published at the end of the migration.

The ELEPHANT FAMILY

For more information about the Migration or to buy an elephant, please visit
www.thegreatelephantmigration.org