Fifty Elephant Parade art pieces are on route to the Middle East for the first time as Dubai Festival City Mall is gearing up to launch its fourth magnificent IMAGINE show titled ‘Hathi’s Garden’. With ‘Hathi’, the baby elephant with the big heart, being the star of the new IMAGINE show, Dubai Festival City Mall has partnered with global social enterprise Elephant Parade to exhibit colourful elephant statues created by artists and celebrities from around the world in efforts of raising awareness for the need of elephant conservation. Elephant Parade, which runs the world’s largest elephant art exhibition of decorated elephant statues, is set to display 50 unique life-sized baby elephant sculptures across Dubai Festival City Mall from 24th October – 29th November.
Elephant Parade was established by father and son Marc and Mike Spits in 2006, who were inspired to act after meeting Mosha, a baby elephant that had been injured from stepping on a landmine, whilst on holiday in Thailand. The two were determined to create something that would generate profit to enhance elephant welfare and conservation. Over the years, the enterprise has exhibited in more than 30 international cities and received support from royals, artists and celebrities the likes of HRH Prince Consort of Denmark, Sir Richard Branson, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams, Tommy Hilfiger, Khloe Kardashian, Ricky Gervais and many others. Limited edition, handcrafted replicas and a range of products are created and sold during these exhibitions, with 20% of their net profit donated to elephant welfare and conservation projects.
IMAGINE, the two-time record-breaking visual and sensory extravaganza, will play live every night for free and offers visitors a truly unforgettable experience with its fourth new show. The show promises to enthral every time, combining lasers, light, fire and water to tell the remarkable, emotive story of Hathi. The state-of-the-art show seamlessly fuses technology and art and has earned two Guinness World Records for the largest water screen projection and the largest permanent projection mapping. IMAGINE uses surround sound to deliver a 360-degree story to emotionally connect with audiences and produce a show like never seen before. The multi-sensory, iconic, unmissable show must truly be seen to believed, leaving a long-lasting impression on all that experience it and live the feeling that is IMAGINE.
Steven Cleaver, Director, Shopping Centres Dubai, Al-Futtaim Malls said, “As we celebrate the launch of the newest IMAGINE show, we wanted to offer our visitors an immersive experience with a wonderful heart-warming story. We believe that the new show with baby ‘Hathi’ and Mosha, the baby Asian elephant whose legacy inspired the inception of Elephant Parade as a global movement will touch the hearts of our visitors. We are delighted to host the first Middle East exhibition for the Elephant Parade and align our efforts with the country’s towards raising awareness on animal welfare and wildlife conservation. We hope that the show and the art statues of this majestic animal combined together will resonate in people’s minds and encourage them to be part of this movement.”
In addition to enjoying the IMAGINE show and visiting the Elephant Parade exhibition, visitors can drop-in to a dedicated Elephant Parade Pop-up shop in Festival Square, the Mall’s main atrium, to purchase merchandise, paint an elephant statue with a workshop, watch a short documentary film and find out more about elephant conservation and the story behind the figures. A 20% donation of all Elephant Parade net profit will go to the exhibition’s dedicated charities, Elephant Family and Friends of the Asian Elephant.
René de Wit, Managing Director at Elephant Parade, said: “Collaboration is at the heart of what we do at Elephant Parade and the opportunity to team up with Dubai’s Festival City Mall and its IMAGINE show allows us to add further colour to this fantastic annual event. After over a decade of visiting so many great cities around the world, Elephant Parade has become a truly global movement, bringing together the worlds of arts, business and charity to paint a brighter future for the elephant. Our debut this month in Dubai is one of the true high points of the last ten years, and we hope it is just the beginning of a creative love affair with the Middle East.”
Each elephant displayed at Dubai Festival City has a story to tell by its artist. Shoppers and visitors are invited to discover the 20 majestic pieces on display inside the Mall and the 30 art pieces available at Festival Bay. Visitors can choose to purchase the statues or a mini versions of the sculptures on display or take part in the painting workshop available and get artsy designing the perfect souvenir or gift!
Dubai Festival City Mall is set to announce more exciting details related to the show, the launch and Elephant Parade, so stay tuned!
