The Great Elephant Migration, a public art installation is on the sands in Miami Beach and through Sunday, Dec. 8. (Photo by Lee Smith)
It's a stop in your tracks art installation that's drawing crowds to Miami Beach in the midst of all of the mayhem of Art Week.
The Great Elephant Migration, an international collaboration between Indigenous artisans, contemporary artists, and cultural institutions supports Indigenous-led conservation efforts.
It's also meant to inspire "peaceful human and animal coexistence" by migrating 100 artisan-made elephant sculptures across the country.
The elephants are installed mid-beach on the sand near the 36th Street Park entrance.
The elephants are installed mid-beach on the sand near the 36th Street Park entrance. (Photo by Lee Smith)
On their third stop across the country, the elephants arrive beachside alongside a pop-up presentation of their very own custom fragrance: CoExistence by luxury Italian fragrance house Xerjoff, the lead sponsor of the Miami exhibition.
It's a 100-strong herd that's captivated people of all ages while amplifying indigenous knowledge and sharing a message about human-wildlife coexistence and conservation worldwide.
Each elephant was created by The Real Elephant Collective, a community of 200 indigenous artisans from the Bettakurumba, Paniya, Kattunayakan and Soliga communities of India's Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu.
It's a 100-strong herd that's captivated people of all ages while amplifying indigenous knowledge and sharing a message about human-wildlife coexistence and conservation worldwide. (Photo by Lee Smith)
The collective has recreated every elephant they live alongside using Lantana camara, one of the world's top invasive weeds, encroaching upon over 40% of India's protected areas.
Furthermore, each elephant is twinned with a conservation NGO in the USA and beyond whose work will directly benefit from the sale of their sculpture.
Shown is Ruth Ganesh, Principal Trustee of Elephant Family and Co-Founder of The Real Elephant Collective, which spearheaded the installation. (Photo courtesy of Louis A W Sheridan)
Proceeds from the sculptures' sales will support conservation NGOs worldwide, with each elephant twinned to a specific organization. Donations range from $10,000 to $100,000 per NGO, funding human-wildlife coexistence projects addressing issues with lions, bison, jaguars, and more.
You don't have to go to Miami Beach to buy one of the elephants, they are for sale online, too. Check out The Miami Herd here.
From Tuesday, Dec. 3 through Sunday, Dec. 8, the herd will join Star Compass, a special Art Week series of multi-sited installations honoring the connection between land and ocean, co-curated by The ReefLine's Ximena Caminos and Art&Newport's Dodie Kazanjian.
The works include Voile/Toile - Toile/Voile, one of Daniel Buren's most significant works, which takes the form of a regatta featuring sail boats adorned with his trademark colored stripes, and Miami Reef Star, a large-scale 60ft sculptural installation of 46 star modules by Carlos Betancourt in collaboration with Alberto Latorre.
After Miami, the Migration will travel to Houston, Texas; Blackfeet Nation, Buffalo Pastures in Browning, Montana; Jackson Hole, Wyoming; and Los Angeles, California in 2025.
For more information about the Migration or to buy an elephant to support conservation efforts, visit thegreatelephantmigration.org.
