Nghệ nhân đại tài...W.O.W

This is truly inspirational !

It seems that every Thai elephant wants to be the next Picasso. Thai elephant art is booming and no elephant show is complete without a demonstration of elephants painting. Certainly it’s fascinating to watch a huge elephant delicately applying a brush to canvas ( or to be more accurate – elephant dung paper) with its trunk and achieving remarkable results but is it art. I have certainly never seen elephants painting in the wild but then the closest I have come to an elephant in the wild is when their handlers bring them through the streets of Chiang Mai to beg for food and a tip.

The first time I saw a Thai elephant painting I was quite amazed by its artistic talent, as good if not better than my own feeble efforts with the brush, even when I had numbers to help. However, after watching several shows it became obvious that each elephant had been trained to reproduce one particular painting. A visit to the obligatory elephant camp gift shop “help save the elephants” confirmed my observations. Row upon row of nearly identical paintings for sale with the artist’s name for all to see. I am not detracting anything from the elephant’s incredible skills at mass production but if this is art then my photocopier could be Van Gogh. The elephants appear to enjoy their hobby, perhaps they even find it relaxing or stimulating, but I can’t help feeling that it’s not the hand of God that guides their trunks but that of their trainers.

So how should we define Art. If it were simply the production of something with aesthetic qualities then elephant art might qualify, but if Art is a medium for self expression and a means of communication of thoughts and ideas then the elephants still have some way to go and the great artists like Rembrandt and Warhol can remain sleeping soundly in their graves. That Thai Elephant Art is good business is undeniable with some paintings offered for sale at several hundred Dollars. Unlike many of the famous artists of the past who did not receive recognition until long after their deaths, these Thai elephant artists have already made a name for themselves and examples of their work can be found hanging in living rooms throughout the World.