No one but a rhino needs its horn

IN November 2014, a rhino was murdered at Motswari. Though the poaching crisis had been snowballing for some time, lodge owner Marion Geiger-Orengo says the devastation, so close to home, shook her bones.

Ironically, just months before, Marion’s husband, Fabrice Orengo de Lamazière, had helped found an organisation called Rhino Disharmony, with the express mission “to create one global voice against rhino poaching”.

That March, the couple had arranged a concert at the lodge, where the world-renowned pianist, Chinese Tian Jiang, had live-composed a haunting melody for the rhino, while Marion painted one.

It was pure performance art, a fleeting moment of beauty as precious in its impermanence as the imperilled creature itself.

The painting was donated to raise funds for conservation, but more crucially, the event was the first expression of how art and conservation could unite in this war.

Today, Rhino Disharmony’s main goal is to inspire creative works that strike an emotional chord and so take the plight of rhinos to the world.

It seeks artists from all genres to collaborate.

Those who wish to may take up residence at Motswari, giving in return their time and labour to produce something, share the result on social media and move on.

Big-name ambassadors so far have included artist Beezy Bailey, Freshly Ground singer Zolani Mahola, cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro) and German model twins Nina and Julia Meise. They have made sculptures, songs, cartoons and short films, disseminated purely through social-media platforms.

Part of the power of art, of course, is that it transcends language and borders. This is a crucial aspect of RD since its main objective is to change the minds of the people who buy the horns, in Asia.

The name reflects that too. As Fabrice explains, harmony is a life goal in Asia, and the worst thing that can happen is “disharmony”. Rhino Disharmony, then, is a punch in the gut.

Says Fabrice, “Our message is to the people of Asia: Stop consuming and the poaching will stop.”

Like, follow and spread the word: No one in the world needs a rhino horn but a rhino.