The Blog and Musings of Gnarfgnarf The Travel Mouse

Elephants parade in Singapore

Posted by Tony on 1 January 2012

And a happy new year to all from every corner of the world! The elephants have been parading in Singapore's streets and shopping malls for the past month and are in town for another couple of weeks until 14 January. The statues of these joyful mammals have been painted locally by local artists and celebrities, and are to be auctioned off to the rich and famous at a gala dinner. The objective is to make them cough up some dough for a worthy cause: to protect the threatened Asian elephant. The proceeds of the sales of the elephants and smaller size replicas go to nature conservation organisations, including the Asian Elephant Foundation. To date, these open air pachyderm exhibitions have collected 4 million euros from various cities around the world, and hope to do well in rich (and hopefully not too stingy) Singapore! Many of the elephants are neatly decorated and made up, a few are boring (presumably because they were painted by some bored bureaucrats), and some are downright amazing. So if you're in town, keep your eyes peeled for the friendly dumbos on Orchard, in the Botanic Gardens, at Marina Bay and various shopping malls around town. There is a smart phone application for those photo hunting enthusiasts but I'd rather take it easy and chance encounter one of the funny beasts.

Things to do in Singapore in January 2012

Posted by Vera on 1 January 2012

6 January, 8.00 - Short Circuit 05 at the Substation, Singapore’s showcase of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) short films.

7-12 January - Nanyang and Tipsy Series: A Solo Exhibition at the Substation, mixed-media paintings and ceramic works.

14 January - 25 March - Chimera: Asian Contemporary Art from Private Collections at the Singapore Art Museum.

Until 30 January - Elephant Parade, international open air art exhibition in support of the Asian Elephant Foundation.

Until 5 February - Dreams and Reality, Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, at the National Museum of Singapore

Until 19 February - Providing for the Afterlife: Han Funerary Art, burial objects (mingqi or "spirit objects") from the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), at the Asian Civilisations Museum.

Until 26 February - Sarong Kebaya, Peranakan fashion and batik masterpieces, at thePeranakan Museum.

Until 3 June - Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles For Export, 1400–1900, over seventy works at the Asian Civilisations Museum.