{"id":291600,"date":"2025-07-25T21:37:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/291600\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T21:37:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:37:17","slug":"100-elephants-and-their-designer-blankets-on-the-great-elephant-migration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/291600\/","title":{"rendered":"100 elephants and their designer blankets on The Great Elephant Migration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday, 100 elephants entered Beverly Hills\u2019 palm-lined streets, home to many Hollywood stars. No one backed away in fear, though \u2014 because the large beasts were handcrafted from the invasive\u00a0Lantana camara\u00a0plant, and travelled on trucks decorated with vibrant Indian lorry art.<\/p>\n

It was the last leg of\u00a0The Great Elephant Migration, a 5,000-mile installation art journey across the United States, through cities, national parks, and tribal lands, supported by over 20 conservation organisations. The life-size pachyderms were draped in ceremonial blankets created by 55 renowned designers and indigenous communities from around the world.<\/p>\n

\"Elephant<\/p>\n

\n

Elephant sculptures in Beverly Hills
\n | Photo Credit:
\n AFP\n <\/p>\n

On the grand trunk road<\/p>\n

The story began decades ago when Mark Shand, author, conservationist, and brother to Britain\u2019s Queen Camilla, experienced the emotional bond between elephants and people in India. He adopted an Asian elephant named Tara in 1988, traversed 600 miles with her across the country, and later founded the non-profit Elephant Family in 2002, which he led until his death in 2016. His legacy continues today through cultural conservationist Ruth Ganesh, principal trustee of the Family, and the work of The Real Elephant Collective, based in Tamil Nadu. The two collectives often collaborate on projects, such as the\u00a0Migration, to raise funds to restore coexistence between people and elephants.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Great Elephant Migration travelling public art show
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

The Collective is a sustainable, community-owned enterprise that employs 200 indigenous artisans from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Over five years, the craftspeople have replicated 160 elephants \u2014 all identified and named \u2014 making each piece a sculptural echo of a living animal.<\/p>\n

In the past two years, the herd has appeared at Rewild, designer Anita Dongre\u2019s showcase at the City Palace in support of the Nature Conservation Foundation, and at designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee\u2019s 25th anniversary exhibition at NMACC this January.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., the elephants have journeyed from Newport through New York, Miami Beach and the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, to Los Angeles. The artisans joined the convoy in the final 1,000-mile leg. And the culmination is\u00a0Wrapped in History, the series of ceremonial blankets curated by product designer Vikram Goyal, being auctioned on Artsy (till August 1).<\/p>\n

Behind the lantana<\/b><\/p>\n

Tarsh Thekaekara, one of four founding members of The Real Elephant Collective, grew up in the Nilgiris. He was shaped by two forces that he saw around him daily: elephants and the aggressive spread of lantana.\u00a0A conservationist and researcher with a PhD from Oxford in human-elephant interaction, he has previously consulted for the Elephant Family and this time around proposed the idea of using the wood of the invasive plant to construct life-size elephant sculptures. (Earlier editions used materials such as fibreglass.) His wife, Shubhra Nayar, a theatre production designer from Cardiff, helped model the sculptures. Each of the elephants is based on a real animal from the coffee and tea plantations surrounding their home. A lantana herd has even found a royal residence at Highgrove House, the private home of King Charles III.<\/p>\n

\"Bulls,<\/p>\n

\n

Bulls, cows, and calves were shaped with anatomical precision
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

Living monuments<\/p>\n

The idea for the bespoke blankets was born at All Night Smoke, an event hosted by their partner INDIgenous Led. \u201cWhat struck me was the powerful presence of blankets,\u201d reminisces Ganesh. \u201cMembers of the community explained that they are symbolic \u2014 given to mark the end of something meaningful, or as a gesture of honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sentiment is echoed by Elephant Family\u2019s first-ever curator, Goyal. \u201cBlankets hold cultural weight across indigenous communities globally,\u201d he says. \u201cThey signify protection, memory, belonging.\u201d Ganesh had worked with Goyal during the Elephant Parade in Mumbai in 2018, and roped him in to curate the series. \u201cHe has a rare ability to bridge Indian craftsmanship with global aesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Vikram<\/p>\n

\n

Vikram Goyal and Ruth Ganesh\n <\/p>\n

Goyal, whose Vikram Goyal Studio collaborates with master artisans, epecially in metalwork, brings a designer\u2019s touch to the project. His blanket draws on\u00a0A Book of Dreams, his own repouss\u00e9 artwork \u2014 inspired by an eponymous manuscript featuring mythical animals such as the\u00a0gajasimha\u00a0(half-lion, half-elephant) and black geese, which are symbols of fertility, prosperity and protection.<\/p>\n

The blankets feature marquee creators, including Sabyasachi, Elie Saab, Ralph Lauren, Diane von Furstenberg, Tarun Tahiliani, Raw Mango, Ozwald Boateng, and younger labels such as Lovebirds and Dhruv Kapoor. Indigenous representation comes from communities, including the Navajo Nation, Maasai, Snoqualmie, and India\u2019s Soliga and Betta Kurumba tribes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAt Chanakya, we believe that the act of making is also an act of listening \u2014 to nature, to memory, and to one another. Equilibrium is our offering for The Great Elephant Migration, a ceremonial blanket created in honour of the matriarch, the wise and guiding force of the herd. Crafted from pine needle waste, banana fibre, mulberry bark, flax, and hemp, each thread is drawn from forest remnants and transformed through over 45 days of handwork by the master artisans at the Chanakya ateliers. The piece pays tribute to the elephant as a quiet architect of the forest and a symbol of coexistence. It reflects our belief in more reciprocal, respectful ways of living.\u201dKarishma SwaliFounder and chairperson, Chanakya School of Craft<\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Chanakya School of Craft
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

Of\u00a0kantha,\u00a0gara\u00a0and flamenco<\/p>\n

Zardozi,\u00a0himroo,\u00a0ajrakh, patchwork \u2014 numerous Indian crafts find their rightful place amidst the weaves. Among the standout pieces is a design from Heirloom Naga, a creative platform that supports loin-loom weaving. Founder-designer Jesmina Zeliang, who lives near the elephant corridors in India\u2019s Northeast, was inspired by\u00a0thupikhu, or elephant cloth, of the Chakhesang tribe in Nagaland \u2014 a garment worn by men who had hosted feasts of merit. Woven on loin looms, it is vivid and symbolically rich. \u201cThe elephant motifs signify not only the wearer\u2019s strength but also his community stature,\u201d Zeliang tells me.<\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Heirloom Naga
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

Textile designer Ashdeen Lilaowala\u2019s contribution bridges continents. His piece draws from Spanish flamenco shawls, beloved in old Parsi homes where they are often used to cover grand pianos. His blanket blends embroidered birds and floral patterns from the Parsi\u00a0gara\u00a0vocabulary with flamenco-style tassels.<\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Ashdeen Lilaowala
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Weavers Studio Resource Centre, an active textile archive led by Darshan Shah, was inspired by an old Oxfam calendar featuring\u00a0nakshi kantha, a type of embroidered quilt, as well as appliqu\u00e9, batik, and cotton\u00a0gamcha\u00a0lining. \u201cThe centre [of the blanket] is a dreamlike world \u2014 elephants, tigers, paisleys, and vines bursting across handwoven tussar silk. But the true magic lies in the margins. You\u2019ll see women, mid-stitch, caught in the act of creation. It\u2019s a\u00a0kantha\u00a0about women making a\u00a0kantha.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Weavers Studio Resource Centre
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

Leaning on memory<\/b><\/p>\n

Designer Masaba Gupta created a calf-sized blanket inspired by her newborn daughter, embroidered with motifs from the Panchatantra fables and personal symbols from her brand\u2019s journey. Fans will recognise the candy, the hand, and the sweets. Ritu Kumar, who collaborated with her entrepreneur son Amrish on her paisley-rich blanket, says: \u201cAfter studying royal archives for my book Costumes and Textiles of Royal India, I found trappings in palace godowns \u2014 used to drape elephants for ceremonial occasions \u2014 crafted with intensive embroidery and handwork. Amrish recreated a 16th-17th century memory of royal parades for this design.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Masaba Gupta
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

\"Blanket<\/p>\n

\n

Blanket by Ritu Kumar
\n | Photo Credit:
\n Ronnie Dai\n <\/p>\n

What began as a herd of lantana elephants now carries a heavier load \u2014 stitched stories of land, memory, and shared futures. The migration may end here, but the message continues. \u201cOnce that elephant tusk tugs at you strong,\u201d says Ganesh, \u201cit doesn\u2019t let go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The writer is a Mumbai-based fashion stylist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Sunday, 100 elephants entered Beverly Hills\u2019 palm-lined streets, home to many Hollywood stars. No one backed away…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[108460,108461,108471,26828,108464,108468,108473,108462,108472,108463,108465,108476,108466,108477,108469,70,3695,108475,108459,108467,16,15,108470,108474,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-291600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-100-elephants","9":"tag-55-designers","10":"tag-ashdeen-lilaowala","11":"tag-beverly-hills","12":"tag-common-lantana","13":"tag-elephant-family","14":"tag-heirloom-naga","15":"tag-human-wildlife-coexistence","16":"tag-jesmina-zeliang","17":"tag-lantana-camara","18":"tag-mark-shand","19":"tag-masaba-gupta","20":"tag-nilgiri-biosphere-reserve","21":"tag-ritu-kumar","22":"tag-ruth-ganesh","23":"tag-science","24":"tag-sustainability","25":"tag-tarsh-thekaekara","26":"tag-the-great-elephant-migration","27":"tag-the-real-elephant-collective","28":"tag-uk","29":"tag-united-kingdom","30":"tag-vikram-goyal","31":"tag-weavers-studio-resource-centre","32":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114916035451249826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}