| CASE 3 |
Copenhagen Elephant Parade was an Art Business & Charity (ABC) project that took place in Denmark in 2011. The project was part of an international effort to collect money to preserve the Asian elephants, initiated by people in the Netherlands and consisting of ABC projects in many big cities all over the world, including London and Tokyo.
The basic idea for each elephant parade project was that prominent national and international artists were invited to paint or otherwise decorate fiberglass baby elephants. The elephants were exhibited publicly in parks and streets for a couple of months – and afterwards auctioned off. Of the auctioned sum, 15 per cent went to the artists and the rest to help the Asian elephants, providing funding to establish and maintain elephant hospitals and to buy land for preserving elephant corridors. A number of sponsors for the project were identified. In addition, merchandise in the form of miniature replicas of the elephants as well as books and posters were produced and sold. Copenhagen Elephant Parade turned out to be one of the largest outdoor exhibitions ever held in Denmark. It included 102 baby elephants. The total auctioned sum was Euro 574,349.
In the book, Elephant Parade 2011, some of the stakeholders stated why they had decided to contribute to the project:
His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort, Patron at Elephant Parade Copenhagen:
As president of WWF [World Wide Fund for Nature], my commitment to the wild life conservation incited me … I have a special relationship with elephants from my childhood in Vietnam and from my many travels in Africa and Thailand … as patron of the Copenhagen Zoo … In Asia and Africa the largest animal on land is threatened by man. In addition, Elephant Parade is an important asset for the city of Copenhagen… (p. 5).
Elephant painting artist:
I generally approach what comes my way [as when asked by the Elephant Parade organizers to paint an elephant] with a positive attitude. I think it’s a great project for both the elephants as well as the artists involved (p. 40).
Despite [this other artist’s] initial reluctance, he decided to take part in Elephant Parade in the end:
When I was first approached by Elephant Parade’s organisers, I have to admit that I wasn’t thrilled about the idea. In the end though, I was persuaded by my connection to Thailand and the elephants … I see art as a medium for creating awareness for the wrongs in the world. I really hope that the Copenhagen edition of Elephant Parade initiates a movement that will help the elephants (p. 83).
[A third artist] is part of Elephant Parade, because the project has a history and a strong purpose. He is impressed by how big the project has ended up being and congratulates it for being very professionally run. He is confident that Elephant Parade will be welcomed by Copenhagen and its residents and visitors, and is happy to be part of such a great project (p. 143).
A fourth Elephant painting artist:
The more information we get, the more qualified decisions we are able to make. That’s why Elephant Parade is such a cool initiative; apart from gathering money for a threatened species, Elephant Parade uses art/culture to highlight some of the biological challenges that our world is facing. It’s a funny and very direct way of reaching out to the public. At the same time I think it adds relevance to art, which sometimes has a tendency to be more decoration, rather than being a comment to the society we are living in (p. 165).
Further, a fifth elephant painting artist stated:
So I would like to dedicate 1, 000 hours to … this important purpose (p. 26).
CASE ANALYSIS
The statements highlight many of the reasons for stakeholder contribution to a project. His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort of Denmark, argues that he already has other roles (president of WWF and patron of the Copenhagen Zoo) which make it obvious that he should take on the role as patron of the parade and also paint a baby elephant himself. This is an example of the logic of appropriateness, answering the question ‘what would someone like me do in a situation like this?’ as he relates the request for contribution to other related roles he already fulfils. His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort of Denmark, also gives reasons related to preserving his social identity: ‘My commitment to the wild life conservation incited me’ and ‘I have a special relationship with elephants from my childhood in Vietnam and from my many travels in Africa and Thailand.’ Further, we interpret that he thinks that the project provides important positive side effects when he states: ‘Elephant Parade is an important asset for the city of Copenhagen.’ This is also part of the reason stated by one of the elephant painting artists: ‘It’s a great project for the elephants as well as the artists involved.’ Another painting artist points to fair project procedures and involvement of the stakeholders when he states that he congratulates the project team for running the project very professionally. Yet another artist is very specific about the amount of resources he will contribute as he states that he will spend 1,000 hours on decorating his elephant – being explicit helps align expectations.
Reading the statements from the elephant painting artists we find it striking that even though many artists are asked for the same non-complex contribution: ‘Will you decorate a baby elephant for the Copenhagen Elephant Parade?’ they have very different, personal reasons for committing themselves. This stresses the importance of investigating each single stakeholder’s motivations to contribute as well as expectations he or she may have to the results of contributing.
You can find more details of this case at: http://elephantparade.com/