Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight program. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I’m Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Sao is 35 years old. She is from Thailand. She is training to be a painter. On her first day at training, she chooses a painting brush. She picks it up. She holds the brush carefully. Her trainer, Theung, has placed paper on the ground in front of her. He softly encourages her to try. "You can do it!" Sao thinks for a moment, but throws the brush on the ground.
Theung encourages Sao again: "Pick it up. You can do it." Sao finally picks the brush up. She stands still for a moment. It is as if she is deciding what to do. She bends down and touches the brush to the paper at her feet. She holds the brush straight out and takes a step back. On the paper, there is now a beautiful bright blue line. Theung smiles. "Well done!" He is proud of his new student.
Voice 2
You may think this sounds simple - any teacher leading a student. But there is something a little unusual with this situation. Sao is an Asian elephant, standing over two and a half meters tall. Elephants are huge creatures. These animals have long noses called trunks. So why is this animal learning to paint?
Voice 1
This is the work of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project. This group aims to help elephants in need, and teach them new skills. But they also encourage people to ask questions about art. Who can make art? What gives art meaning? Can animals like elephants really make true art? Today’s Spotlight is on the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project - the AEACP.
Voice 2
Elephant art is not a new idea. In the United States, elephants in zoos have painted for many years. One elephant, Ruby, has raised thousands of dollars for her zoo. Another elephant, Renee, inspired two artists to train Asian elephants to paint.
Voice 1
These artists are Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid. They are originally from Russia. Komar and Melamid met Renee in 1995. They were surprised at her painting skills.
Voice 3
“The elephant’s trunk is amazing. It can move extremely well. And of course, elephants are extremely intelligent, so Renee had a really impressive command of the painting brush.”
Voice 2
Komar and Melamid worked with Renee to develop a special method of teaching elephants to paint. They brought their teaching method to Asia. And about two years later, they began the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project.
Voice 1
Komar and Melamid knew about the tragic situation many elephants in Thailand face. Many elephants in Thailand have been part of the logging industry for many years. Loggers cut down trees from forest land. Elephants are powerful and intelligent. These trained, or domesticated, elephants are the perfect helpers to carry away large cut down trees.
Voice 2
But in January, 1989, the Thailand government banned logging. Logging was destroying too many forests. Many elephants did not have work. Neither did their care-takers, or mahouts. Trained elephants cannot survive again in the wild. They depend too closely on people. So, many elephants and their mahouts had to beg for money on the city streets. Komar and Melamid wanted to help these animals. Melamid explains.
Voice 3
“We gave them the chance to have a second job, to become artists.”
Voice 1
Komar and Melamid first worked with Asian elephants in 1998. In that year Komar and Melamid opened their first art academy for elephants in Lampang. At this school, trainers could encourage elephants to paint. The trainers provided painting materials. And the elephants provided the art! But Komar says that not every elephant has this skill.
Voice 3
“Only a few elephants like to paint - perhaps 10 or 20 percent. But the ones that do like it cannot be stopped. So we really do not have to do anything except give them the materials and the idea. The elephants do the rest.”
Voice 2
The Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project provides training, care, food, and shelter for domesticated Asian elephants. They provide simple training and painting materials for the elephant artists. Then they show and sell the elephant art all around the world.
Voice 1
Art experts have discovered some very interesting things about elephant art. Elephants from similar areas have similar styles of painting. For example, elephant paintings from north Thailand use bright simple colors like blue, red and yellow. But in central Thailand, many elephants prefer to paint with darker colors like deep purple, black, and dark green.
Voice 2
Demand for elephant art is big. Even in its first few years, the AEACP was very popular. In March, 2000, the AEACP sold elephant art in New York. These paintings raised over 75,000 dollars for elephants. In 2001, 42,000 visitors saw elephant art in Sydney. This event raised 27,000 dollars.
Voice 1
And where does this money go? It goes back to the elephants! The AEACP uses the money to take care of the domesticated elephants in the academies. But it also uses the money to support elephants in the wild. The money helps to protect the natural environment of wild elephants. They use the money to help other groups too. These groups work against the illegal killing of elephants.
Voice 2
Finally, money raised by elephant art also helps train and educate mahout care-takers. The mahouts learn the best ways to train and care for elephants. They also learn ways to keep the elephants safe. The mahouts also earn money from helping the elephants paint. This means better care for the community of people and elephants!
Voice 1
But elephant art is also a chance to think about what art really is. Are these elephants truly making art? Does an elephant think about what he or she is painting? Does the elephant give the art real meaning? Does the painting need meaning to be beautiful? These are questions art experts all around the world are asking. Melamid believes that elephant art is art. He says,
Voice 3
“Unlike people, elephants will never be influenced by the market. They make art with a truly innocent eye.”
Voice 1
So what is the future for elephant art? No one really knows. But Komar and Melamid have a dream.
Voice 3
“We want to cover the world with these academies. We want to have thousands of elephants making art every day. This is our dream. To have elephants produce the same amount of art that humans do. Why not?”
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