Instagram shares 'Elegrams' for World Elephant Day
Where's your elephant? World Elephant Day wants to see your 'Elegrams'
It's an international campaign, conceived by a Canadian. Victoria-based filmmaker Patricia Sims is the director of World Elephant Day -- the cause currently turning social media into a pachyderm parade straight out of Dumbo. Elephants, both Asian and African, are facing extinction, and the cause supports wildlife organizations fighting to protect the species while spreading information about the challenges to their survival.
"What's cool is how social media has transformed this into real-world activity," Sims, the director of upcoming documentary, When Elephants Were Young, recently said.
One of those "real-world activities" involves a bit of artistic ingenuity. Among today's World Elephant Day campaigns is a creative challenge called The #Elegram Project.
It's simple: make an elephant, and share a photo with the #Elegram hashtag. The Nature Conservancy, a U.S. non-profit which serves as World Elephant Day's official sponsor, says their donors will match #Elegram posts with funds contributing to elephant-conservation efforts.
So far, there have been #Elegrams by pros:
And beginners:
Sketched #Elegrams:
Watercolour #Elegrams:
Photo #Elegrams. Or should we call this "body art?"
Sculptural #Elegrams:
Even crafty crochet #Elegrams:
What would you contribute to the project? Tweet us at @CBCArts.
Sims presents a screening of her documentary Return to the Forest at Victoria's Robert Bateman Centre tonight. Narrated by William Shatner, the 30-minute film is being shown as a fundraiser for World Elephant Day.
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