Artistic statement against ivory trade
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Thailand is holding t he “Travel Ivory Free” exhibition at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Pathumwan intersection, from today until Oct 10.
Held i n collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, the exhibition features an art installation of a dead African elephant sculpture surrounded by fake ivory accessories. Standing next to the beast is a calf sculpture, looking unaware that her mother has left her for good.
The installation is aimed to send a powerful and emotional message that the lives of most elephants are simply exchanged for decorative products. This is to raise awareness to foreign travellers currently visiting the Kingdom, to be responsible tourists by not purchasing ivory products in Thailand.
The exhibition follows the fact that Thailand remains one of the biggest illegal ivory-trade hubs in Asia, now that China has officially closed its market, as of late last year. Even though Thai law allows the trading of ivory from domesticated Thai elephants, it’s difficult to determine if the ivory products on the market are actually from our local jumbos, when the research by WWF suggests that large quantities of African ivory have been illegally smuggled into the country. Made from fibreglass resin by award-winning artist Wasinburee Supanichvoraparch, the 7m-long installation, it’s believed, will be the object of many photo ops, pitched to Thai and international media and shared on social-media platforms, in order to send a message to Thai authorities that it’s time to take serious action — to close the ivory market in this country.
The official opening of the exhibition is tomorrow at 2pm, when the situation concerning the ivory market here will be presented and artist Wasinburee will talk about the story behind his elephant sculptures.
There will also be a commando troop marching around the art centre on Saturday and Sunday to give away souvenirs to tourists, who will be invited to take photos with the art installation, and encouraged to post and hastag #TravelIvoryFree on social media.