German DJ and Producer duo “Jewelz and Sparks” have created a new life-size, baby elephant statue for Elephant Parade
Oct 04, 2018 10:48 UTC Jewelz and Sparks go bananas about Elephant Parade
International German DJ and Producer duo “Jewelz and Sparks” have created a new life-size, baby elephant statue for Elephant Parade to raise awareness and funds for Asian elephants. The new Jewelz and Sparks’ design draws inspiration from popular music culture, and their trademark diamond shaped logo. The design also features bananas, a food staple both for elephants that also happens to be part of the DJ duo’s travel diet.
Whilst touring in Thailand, Gregor Brechman - also known as “Sparks” - had his first encounter with a real elephant – it was Mosha, the baby Elephant whose story inspired the created of Elephant Parade 12 years ago. Mosha lost part of her leg whilst stepping on a landmine and her plight moved Elephant Parade founders Marc and Mike Spits to raise money to have the world’s first elephant prosthetic leg made for Mosha. So began the story of Elephant Parade. Since the first Elephant Parade event in 2007, the welfare of thousands of elephants have been supported and a statue of Mosha has featured in every Elephant Parade since – a symbol of bravery and overcoming adversity.
Following his meeting with Mosha, Sparks also saw many of the Elephant Parade art statues dotted around Chiang Mai and learnt about the work of Elephant Parade in raising awareness for Asian elephants in general.
Elephant Parade® is a social enterprise and runs the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues. Created by artists and celebrities, each Elephant Parade statue is a unique art piece. The life-size, baby elephant statues are exhibited in international cities and raise awareness for the need for elephant conservation.
Twelve years on from the launch of Elephant Parade, the organisation continues to support Mosha today through an annual donation of one million Thai Baht to support her welfare at Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand.
Sparks commented: “The energy coming from this beautiful animal is just crazy. Mosha really seemed to love bananas and so do we as it’s our number one travel food. From this moment on we knew that we had to do something to protect elephants especially as we learned about Mosha’s story.”
“Elephant Parade statues just look so cool and we love their designs. They are very artistic and creative. We always loved this mint colour that is going to be the main theme of the elephant so we combined it with our own trademark design.”
Thirty-percent of the sales price of the Jewelz and Sparks elephant will go to Elephant Parade’s charity partner, Elephant Family, to help save elephants.
Elephant Parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition of decorated elephant statues that seeks to attract public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation. Created by local and international artists, each elephant is a unique piece of art. Parades have been run in the following cities:
Rotterdam 2007
Antwerp 2008
Amsterdam 2009
Emmen Zoo 2010
London 2010
Bergen 2010
Heerlen 2011
Copenhagen 2011
Milan 2011
Singapore 2011
Hasselt 2012
Trier-Luxembourg 2013
Dana Point, California 2013
The UK national tour 2013-14 - a 14-month non stop tour, visiting:
London, Manchester, Gateshead, Cardiff, Glasgow, Nottingham, Norwich, Newcastle, Uxbridge, Lakeside, Stoke, Watford and Bromley.
Calais 2015 Bangkok 2015
Florianopolis 2015
Taiwan 2016
Chiang Mai 2016
Sao Paolo, Brazil 2017
The Netherlands 2017
India 2018
Amsterdam 2018
Contacts
Guy Bellamy Press Contact Managing Director, UK & International newsroom Events, Press Office, International enquiries [email protected] +44 7766775216