In Thailand, elephants are a traditional symbol of royal power. They are an important part of Thai culture and life and are well-loved. The elephant is a symbol of power and peace. Before the 18th century elephants are used in wars between the Asian countries. The Thai king of the late 17th century had 20,000 war elephants trained for battle.
Today, the number of elephants in Thailand number around 2,600. Most of the elephants are at various elephant camps around the country where they learn to work in the forests. The elephants are trained for 20 years before they're ready to work as full, independent and experienced loggers. At the age of 20 they begin their 35-year career of work, and at 55 or 60 they retire. In between logging, the elephants entertain the hundreds of thousands of people who go to see them each year.
In one of these elephant camps live Sao, a 35-year-old female Asian elephant. She is a renowned and talented painter. Her mahout dips a paintbrush in some paint and passes the paintbrush to her. Sao then slowly and carefully applies the paintbrush to the canvas and starts to paint.
Most of the elephant paintings are characterized by broken brushwork, curvilinear forms, and bold, clear, primary colors.
No comments:
Post a Comment