Spot the elephant

Today no food blog but do I want to share my day out in Amsterdam.
Yesterday I was in the city to see something very special...a parade of elephants. Not real ones of course but works of art, very much on public display. 112 elephant to be exact, the number being very significant in representing 1-1-2 the alarm number, raising our attention to the plight of this splendid creature sadly threatened with extinction.
The Asian elephant- I was fortunate enough to meet this animal in Thailand earlier this year. It is an amazing species, I was very much in awe but the setting was less fortunate. The story of the elephant is very tragic.
The elephant population has very much declined in the last years. The reasons: poaching, landmines and unemployment. These magnificent beasts and probably Thailand’s best known national symbol , they have been instrumental in building and defending the country. Now they work either in elephant camps carrying tourists on elephant treks or parade in the cities, illegally begging for money. The elephant do not belong in the towns the one's we saw evidently showed signs of stress. Sadly there are few elephants that haven't been 'domesticated', the number living in their natural environment is rapidly declining. We also visited one of the 'schools' and took an elephant trail. If the tourists stop coming then I do fear for the elephants. I justify while it is not the best environment for the animals to live in, this way they do get daily exercise and fed! You are 'free' but encouraged to buy food, bananas and sugar cane, for the elephants throughout the trek. The intelligent and very comical elephants know only too well and show their protest! If they are not fed they stop and refuse to budge until they see food! And boy do they eat, if we weren't careful the bunch of bananas disappeared in one go and the trunk was constantly ’in search'. We watched a show where to our amazement the elephants were performing amazing tricks. We even witness an elephant painting a work of art!
The Elephant Parade, Amsterdam:
There are various ways of viewing the elephants, cruises, guided tours, by scooter, by step or bicycle, but....we walked. It is largely an open air exhibition, they are scattered around squares, street corners, parks and even shopping centers, parading in full glory where they can be admired by the public. Museum Plein, Leidse plein, Wetering Platsoen, Westermarkt, Konings Plein. see map. You can pick up a booklet with a suggested route (which isn't entirely logical in my opinion) or just plan your own walk.
Each one is an unique work of art, painted by local or international artists, examples are Ilse DeLange, Rob Scholte, Rob de Nijs, Daryl van Wouw, Jan des Bouvrie, each responsible for decorating one elephant. Where the inspiration come from I can only guess. It a mix of colour, design and material showing the creatures in several different poises. They are roughly the size baby elephants. Not only the designs are colourful but they bear interesting names: Gladiator, Communicator, O-Love-Fantje and The Eye of The Believer. My particular favourites were Justice, Maharadja and Obama, an elephant bearing more than a striking resemblance to the American President. Another elephant that has often been spoken about is Florijn, the queens elephant, orange in colour and decorated with real guilders.
One or two of the elephants could tell a colourful story or two. For example one unfortunate elephant from a previous elephant parade failed to make the auction due to damage. He is now standing proudly in front of the Museum shop for promotional purposes. Another elephant 'Dino' was stolen from Frederiksplein. He was missing for several days before he was found and returned. This caused a lot of concern as he was uninsured, had an estimated value of ten thousand euro’s! How could an elephant of 1.60m weighing 60-70kilo go missing I ask myself?! He was found just 50meters away from where he went missing and after spending a few days in the garden of the Police Station he was returned to his 'stomping ground'. One of the more flash elephants 'Reflection' has had to be temporarily replaced by 'Dikkebillboard'. He is made from a kind of mirror-mosaic but has been 'vandalised', apparently the wrong glue was used, my guess is it couldn't withstand prodding fingers.
The very first project was organised in Rotterdam in 2007 and followed in Antwerp in 2008, it proved to be very successful and raised a total amount of over 700,000euro. The 'Amsterdam' elephants are due to be sold at the Westergasfabriek by the auctioneers Christies in November. All proceeds will go to the world's largest Charity fund: 'The Elephant Family'.
In may-June 2010 The London Elephant Parade is scheduled to take place.
I can't help but wonder if the Elephants will get the same freedom in London as in Amsterdam. I know England only too well and I can see little signs in capital letters PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE ELEPHANTS, chains or even security guards. Today I saw the 'free spirited' Dutch children happily climbing the works of art and couldn't help but pity the elephants although overall they were bearing up fairly well. They have been on view since the beginning of September.
We didn't get to see all 112 elephants, as it was we barely had time to stop for lunch. We managed to grab a quick bite to eat at a place called Martinot nearby Museum Plein where I was 'food inspired'. We both enjoyed a very interesting Walnut and Chestnut soup with (goats)cheese. This is one I'll be attempting at home. Watch this space!
I hope you will take time to think about the elephants, you too can help to save the endangered Asian elephant from extinction. Perhaps (like me) you don't have a few thousand of euro's to spare, but you can still visit one of the two stores Elephant Parade shop situated at Kalvertoren Shopping Center and Museum Plein, here you can purchase replica's of nearly every design from the exhibition, ranging in many sizes. They are all handmade and have been handpainted in a limited edition. In doing so you will not only be having a very decorative addition to your house, but you will also be supporting a worthy charitable cause.
If you don't want to miss the Parade please hurry Saturday 31st October is the last day. If you are short of time I suggest you head to Museum Plain, here a herd of elephants are on show in all their glory.