100 Larger-Than-Life Indian Elephants Are Migrating To NYC And Across The U.S.
We New Yorkers are used to seeing pigeons and rats on our daily strolls through the city. As for elephants…not so much. However that’s about to change as 100 magnificent Indian elephants are migrating to NYC!
They aren’t real, of course. But they are life size. Dubbed The Great Elephant Migration, the installation is “a global fundraising adventure to amplify indigenous knowledge and inspire the human race, to share space,” according to its website.
“We are humbled and proud to welcome these elephants from India to take up residency in the Meatpacking District for the next six weeks,” Jeffrey LeFrancois, executive director of the Meatpacking BID, said during a blessing ceremony on September 6th. “They’ll bring lots of smiles, and many a double takes, as they have already done.”
But the intention of the installation, which will be on view until October, reaches far beyond wowing viewers.
The Great Elephant Migration is a collaboration between indigenous artisans, contemporary artists, and cultural institutions, that’s set to raise millions of dollars to power human-wildlife coexistence projects and protect migratory animals.
“Despite the fact that wildlife are up against it right now, the message these elephants bring is all about positivity,” said Ruth Ganesh, a creative conservationist and philanthropist who conceptualized and produced The Great Elephant Migration. “We are hoping it is going to become an Instagram sensation and taking that message of human race and shared space to parts previously unreached.”
The elephants were created by 200 indigenous artisans living in Nilgiri Hills, Southern India, where humans and elephants coexist in the densest overlap on the planet. They were sculpted out of lantana camara, one of the world’s top invasive weeds that threatens the elephants’ habitat.
While we New Yorkers don’t come face-to-face with these massive creatures while we’re out and about, the population of the population of elephants, rhinos, lions and tigers has also doubled over the last 30 years. The Great Elephant Migration is a testament to the belief that humans and nature can thrive alongside one another.
“In fact, just the past couple of days walking along 9th Ave., as much as you quickly turn your head, there’s this immediate sense that they suddenly just belong here, too,” LeFrancois said.
After spending two months in NYC the elephants will pay a visit to our friends over in Miami in December before migrating to Browning, Montana in May and June of 2025. They’ll finally end their journey with our friends in L.A. in July 2025.
You can learn more about their journey on The Great Elephant Migration’s website.
September 6 – October 2024
Meatpacking District
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