Elephant Parade Teams Up with Matthew Williamson to Unveil Urban Jungle in London

London, United Kingdom, May 11, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Originally developed in Holland by Elephant Parade pioneers Marc and Mike Spits, to help support the protection of the endangered Asian elephant, this unique event will hit London streets for the first time, thanks to Elephant Family founder, Mark Shand.

The parade will feature 250 life-size elephants hand-painted by an assortment of established and emerging talent from the art and design world, including Matthew Williamson. Previous parades have been held in Holland and Belgium, raising over euro1,600,000 in total.

Matthew Williamson explains,

I wanted the Matthew Williamson elephant sculpture for the Elephant Parade London 2010 to incorporate visual and textural elements that would grab the attention of visitors, raising much needed awareness of the cause and also to brighten up our capital this summer.

I believe in accessible, public art as an excellent way to inspire or inform others. I am proud to have been asked to contribute my own piece for the Elephant Parade to benefit such a worth conservation project.

This elephant, destined to become highly collectible work of art, will grace a key London landmark turning the capital into an urban jungle. All of the elephants will then be herded together in one of London’s great green spaces for a magnificent exhibition, open to the public.

After going on display to the public they will be auctioned by Sothebys at a glittering event, which aims to raise over £1 million, benefiting more than 15 UK conservation charities working in Asia. Attracting a veritable who’s who of London society, including the Duchess of York, Princess Michael of Kent and Joanna Lumley, this event is set to be the party of the season.

Working with the Wildlife Trust of India, funds raised by the Elephant Parade will be used to buy and manage vital wildlife habitat across Asia, giving Asian elephants, and the species and people that share the land, a safer and more sustainable future. Elephant Family will also invest funds in community education projects across Asia, highlighting the commercial, cultural and ecological significance of Asian elephants, to instigate a positive shift in local attitudes towards elephants.

Within only 100 years the elephant population has shrunk by over 90%, dropping from 250,000 to an estimated 25,000, placing this valuable species dangerously close to extinction. If current trends continue the Asian elephant will cease to exist in the wild by 2050.

Elephant Family has been campaigning for conservation of the Asian elephant since 2002, and with this new project it aims to grow public awareness and gather signatures for a government petition and to raise vital funds for conservation projects in Asia, securing the Asian elephants a place in our future.

Artists are able to paint their elephants courtesy of eco friendly paint manufactures and official Elephant Parade Paint Partner, Farrow and Ball. A studio has been set up in Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre, courtesy of St. Modwen, where artists can work on their elephants and a mixture of rising talents and established artists are currently working on their designs.

Haulage Partner, Eco Van and Man, a specialist removals company committed to caring for the environment, have been delivering elephants to artists across London, on a completely sustainable and carbon neutral basis. Driven by eco-friendly ideals, Eco Van and Man invest in an Eco charity and their own Eco forest to offset the few unavoidable carbon generating aspects of their operations.

Each artist and designer has been given an individual 1.65m (L) x 1.48m (H) x 0.70m (W) elephant and asked to create something completely unique.

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