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2005/3/16-17 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:36728 Activity:moderate |
3/16 Yahoo News: http://tinyurl.com/6pky7 Elephants paint a picture \_ This sounds like the work of Komar and Melamid: http://thegalleriesatmoore.org/activities/kandm.shtml |
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tinyurl.com/6pky7 -> story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/050220/photos_od_afp/050220231756_uiabbh7e_photo0&e=13 The infor mation contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agenc e France Presse. |
thegalleriesatmoore.org/activities/kandm.shtml Komar & Melamids Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project is both a s erious non-profit organization that cooperates closely with the World Wi ldlife Fund and a humorous look at modern culture. In the 1980s, the gov ernment of Thailand passed strict anti-logging laws. About 3,000 tame el ephants in Thailand, who earned their living in logging camps, lost thei r jobs. They were forced to move into the crowded cities to perform circ us tricks. They barely earned enough for their handlers (mahouts) to fee d them. The Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project has established three Elephant Art Academies where the elephants learn to paint. Animal-created art has been a topic of discussion since the end of the ni neteenth century. There are chimpanzees who paint and a donkey who paint s with his tail. It was after painting with Rene, in the Toledo (Ohio) Zoo, that Komar & Melamid tho ught of the Thai project to solve the problem of that countrys elephant s Today, the AEACP is literally allowing the elephants and the mahouts of Thailand to support themselves with dignity. These questions are central to the future of art in the 21st century cult ure. And they are central to Komar & Melamids Asian Elephant Art and Co nservation Project. |