ELEPHANT PARADE MARCHES IN TO INTU POTTERIES

Today (Monday 10^th March), 18 of Elephant Parade’s instantly recognisable elephant statues will go on display at intu Potteries for four weeks. Having trailblazed around the world – visiting Singapore, Amsterdam, Milan, Southern California – Elephant Parade’s debut in Stoke-on-Trent forms part of the 14-stop UK tour presented by intu shopping centres.

From Staffordshire & Cheshire, pupils from Newcastle-under-Lyme Junior School, Clayton Hall Business and Language College, Pikemere Primary School and Haywood Academy have all designed elephants in celebration of the national tour and six students from the schools were selected to paint a smaller scale elephant  exhibited at intu Potteries during the month long exhibition.

Two brand new Asian elephants will be officially launched at intu Potteries. Love Story designed by Kesorn Mueanpangs’ inspiration behind his design is that "Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away returns to the group. Like people, they cry, they play and they love."

Also Flower Impression, designed by Pimpapa Dumdejs’ inspiration was "A joyful statement in bright colour, this elephant represents the vibrancy of the Asian elephant and our positive hope for its future."

Embracing digital technology, intu Potteries will also be running a ‘digital showreel’ in its centre, so that every child’s entry will be displayed on big screens in the centres for everyone to see.

Paul Francis, General Manager of intu Potteries said:

“We’re all very thrilled to be welcoming Elephant Parade to Stoke-on-Trent. We’re part of a national tour that is bringing the 100-strong elephant herd to over half the UK population, making it the longest-running Elephant Parade to date.”

A number of the tour elephants will be available to buy from the Elephant Store in the centre with money raised going to the Asian Elephant Foundation.  Inside the Elephant store there will be workshops taking place where shoppers can design an elephant on paper or buy a small elephant to paint during the workshop. Also available to buy is a craft kit which contains a mini  elephant and painting equipment and paint.

Elephant Parade is a global public art festival, which brings together the worlds of art, business and charity to create vibrant public art elephant statues that are sold or auctioned to raise money for the Asian Elephant Foundation, a charity that supports conservation of the Asian Elephant.  The Elephant Parade UK tour kicked off in July 2013 and will travel to 14 locations across the UK by August 2014, reaching an expected 30 million people. 

The tour has been made possible by intu, the UK’s leading shopping centre brand. In planning the tour both intu and Elephant Parade wanted to find a creative way of raising lasting awareness of the plight of the Asian Elephant amongst the next generation.

Despite touring the world, this is the first time that school children have been asked to get involved with the parade.  Thousands of school designs have already been submitted, the winners being commissioned to paint their creation on their own half size elephant statues, which join the UK tour during their local leg, standing shoulder to shoulder with those of top artists and celebrities.

Trevor Pereira, commercial director at intu said: “Elephant Parade needs no introduction. Wherever it goes, it livens, energises and stimulates the places it visits and offers something for everyone. In hosting the UK tour, we are proud to be showcasing the elephants in our shopping centres. In giving school children the opportunity to create elephants that will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the designs of top artists, we hope to showcase tomorrow’s talent today. We are delighted to be presenting a national tour with local flavour that offers a welcome boost for retailers and will give millions of people a reason to smile.”

Mike Spits, Co-Founder of Elephant Parade commented: “From the outset a key objective of the Elephant Parade national tour was to move beyond just fund raising for conservation and focus more attention on raising deep and lasting awareness of the underlying issues faced by the Asian elephant. In past years dozens of celebrities have submitted designs for our parades, but this tour puts the talent of tomorrow centre stage.”

UK tour artist, Anna Masters, said:  "I first got involved in Elephant Parade in 2010 when they organized a parade of elephants around London. Not every elephant is at each of the tour locations, but when I saw that the intu centre in Stoke-on-Trent was included in the tour schedule, I made a special request for my elephant, Sunday Best, to be included in this part of the tour. I studied Fine Art at Staffordshire University, and Stoke-on-Trent has been special to me ever since. Though it's 10 years since I studied there, I still make reference to designs from the potteries in my work.’

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For more information about the Elephant Parade national tour, presented by intu, please visit the tour website: www.intuelephantparade.co.uk or contact:

Guy Bellamy: 07766 775216  guy@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Harriet Powell: 07738 160961  harriet@elephantcommunications.co.uk

For high-resolution Elephant Parade images or to register for forthcoming news alerts on the UK tour, visit the Elephant Parade international newsroom at http://www.mynewsdesk.com/pressroom/elephant-parade

Notes to editors

The elephant Parade national tour: Official 2014 tour venues and dates

·  10 March 2014  intu Potteries, Stoke (4 weeks)

·  7 April 2014  intu Chapelfield, Norwich (4 weeks)

·  5 May 2014   intu Lakeside, West Thurrock, Essex (4 weeks)

·  2 June 2014  intu Uxbridge (4 weeks)

·  30 June 2014  intu Bromley (4 weeks)

·  28 July 2014  Central London

About intu

intu owns and operates some of the very best shopping centres, in the strongest locations right across the country, including ten of the UK’s top 25.  You can find every one of the UK’s top 20 retailers in our shopping centres, alongside some of the world’s most iconic global brands.

With over 17 million sq ft of retail space valued at over £7 billion as at 31 December 2012, our centres attract some 340 million customer visits a year and two thirds of the UK population live within a 45 minute drive time of one of our centres.

At the forefront of UK shopping centre evolution since the 1970s our focus is on creating compelling destinations for consumers with added theatre.

 On 15 January this year, we announced the creation of a nationwide consumer facing shopping centre brand - intu - and the transformation of our digital proposition including a transactional website, to provide the UK’s leading shopping centre experience on and off-line.

 We have an investment plan of £1 billion over the next ten years on active management projects at most of our centres and major extensions.

Over 80,000 people are employed at our centres across the UK and we are fully committed to supporting our local communities and the wider environment through meaningful and hands-on initiatives.

Comments from artists taking part in the Elephant Parade national tour

Christine Wilcox- Baker (West Yorkshire)

“At school my favourite thing was the 'nature table' and the fascination for all things flora and fauna has always stayed with me and is the core focus that inspires and influences my work. I think it's a great idea to involve schools in Elephant Parade and help children learn from an early age about conservation and about caring for all the beings that we share our planet with.”

Patricia Shrigley (London)

“The Asian elephants’ habitat is shrinking. My elephant ‘Wild London’ is about the enjoyment of local wildlife. We have to look after the living planet and all its creatures because without them it would be a sad barren earth. The touring elephant parade is a celebration of our relation with wildlife and showing we do care.”

About Elephant Parade (www.elephantparade.com):

With the number of wild Asian elephants declining over the last 100 years from more than 100,000 to between 35,000 and 50,000, Elephant Parade aims to raise awareness of conservation issues surrounding the Asian elephant through fun and engaging art pieces that pull communities together and give people a reason to smile. Money raised from the sale of tour elephants will support the Asian Elephant Foundation, a charity that backs conservation and education projects that give a future to the Asian Elephant.

14 parades have taken place or are in preparation:

Rotterdam 2007  Antwerp 2008  Amsterdam 2009

Emmen 2010  London 2010  Bergen 2010 

Heerlen 2011  Copenhagen 2011  Milan 2011 

Singapore 2011  Hasselt 2012  UK tour 2013/14

Southern California 2013  Luxembourg 2013