Dozens of paintings by elephants will go under the hammer to raise funds for needy elephants in Thailand, at the Auditorium, 5th floor of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Pathumwan intersection, on Sunday, from 4-8pm.
The auction is part of the "Art Gallery For Thai Elephants" project initiated by the Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, in collaboration with Maetaeng Elephant Park in Chiang Mai.
It's one of many elephant camps in the north of Thailand that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic that barred tourists from visiting the camps for almost three years, leaving them with financial problems and consequently hurting their starving jumbos.
More than 50 acrylic paintings are currently displayed for public viewing at the Curved Wall, on the 3rd floor of the art centre, daily from 10am to 8pm until auction day. The paintings were created by three talented jumbos -- Thanwa, Suda and Suree -- at Maetaeng Elephant Park.
The park started training some of its stars to create artworks for sale by using their trunks to hold the brushes and stroke the canvas in order to raise money for the purchase of medical supplies since 2000. It could create a proper clinic on site in 2009 and has treated all the elephants around Chiang Mai free of charge to today.
The jumbo trio have their own unique painting skills and their works have been further painted to completion by many of the country's celebrated artists. They include National Artist Pichai Nirand, Silpathorn Artist Pornchai Jaima and veteran painter Prasong Luemuang.
All proceeds after deduction from the auction will go towards many related organisations that have suffered from the pandemic. They include the Elephant Hospital of the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation; the Elephant Hospital of Thai Elephant Conservation Center; the Thai Elephant Alliance Association; and Maetaeng Elephant Clinic.
"The upcoming auction doesn't only reflect the skills of Thai elephants but also the hope and generosity of everyone who wants to help the hungry jumbos, provide them with good welfare and support the businesses or organisations that are taking care of Thai elephants to be able to revive and keep going again," said Assoc Prof Apisit Songsasen, dean of the Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University.
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