Elephants Artists
The Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project (AEACP) promotes and distributes the work of elephant artists to raise funds for elephant conservation. By exhibiting and marketing the paintings and clothing internationally, the AEACP aims to increase public awareness of the plight of Asian elephants whose numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate.
In recent years, the number of domesticated elephants in Thailand alone has rapidly diminished from 11,000 to only 3,000. Deforestation of the Thai countryside has led to a ban on the logging of teak, an industry that once employed thousands of elephants. Although much needed, the logging ban left these elephants and their life-long owners (mahouts) without a livelihood.
Work of Art
Upon hearing of the situation in Southeast Asia, Komar & Melamid began their first collaboration with an elephant, Renee, at the Toledo Zoo in Ohio in 1995. It was here that Komar & Melamid first developed their method of teaching elephants to paint.
Elephants in United States zoos have been painting successfully for two decades. One such painting pachyderm at the Phoenix Zoo named Ruby generated more than $100,000 for the zoo in a single year. After working with elephants in States, Komar & Melamid then introduced the idea of teaching elephants how to paint to Asia and two years later founded the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project.
Komar & Melamid first traveled to Thailand in 1998 and worked with elephants in Lampang, Ayutthaya, Surin, and Phuket. Later that year they gave their first lecture about their elephant art project at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California. In November 1998, Komar & Melamid opened the world’s first elephant art academy in Lampang.
The Trunk Show
The Trunk Show is a runway show and auction featuring garments made from eco-friendly fabric such as natural organic cotton hemp linen, organic cotton, bamboo and locally produced silk that has been painted on by some very talented elephants in Thailand and Indonesia. Garments and other auction items are now available for purchase online!
