Fort Kochi, 3 January 2023: Through the month of December, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), supported by Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) celebrated the Asian Elephant in God’s own country- Kerala through a multidisciplinary campaign, Gajotsavam. This took the form of diverse tracks on the elephant theme, beginning with an art exhibition Aa Aana, engaging children in themed activities(Bala Gaja), screening films(Gaja Gamini)and hosting performing artists (Gajotsav), engaging with policy, law, religion and media (Gaja Shastra) for 30 days in December 2022.

WTI has been working with the Government of India’s Project Elephant, state forest departments and national and global NGOs to secure and protect elephant corridors for over a decade through its Right of Passage project, and an event like Gajotsavam once again brought the National Heritage Animal and Kerala’s state animal centre stage.

Held in the cultural capital hub of Kerala- Fort Kochi, parallel to Muziris Biennale, the campaign was ideated based on the integral emotional connection of Malayalis and Elephants. The campaign was called Aa Aana (‘ആ ആന’), which takes us back to the early cognitive days of acrophonic learning like A for an apple, in Malayalam literature, the A stands for Aana, i.e. an elephant. Aa Aana was ideated majorly as a three-fold campaign to:

1. Celebrate the Asian elephant through festivities of live creation of art, cultural performance, the exhibition of Elephant art pieces by pan-Indian artists,
2. Open an active dialogue with relevant stakeholders like line agencies, bar and bench, and media about the rising conflict situation and modes of mitigating them, and
3. Increase a groundswell of popular support for securing elephants’ Right of Passage

Ananda Banerjee, K R Anoop, Bose Krishnamachari, KJ Maxi, Dr Rahul Kaul, Bony Thomas, KJ Sohan, Stephen Robert during the inaugural ceremony; Photo by Sreenanth K

Aa Aana was inaugurated on 2^nd December at CSI Parish Hall, Fort Kochi by Mr. K R Anoop, IFS, CCF (central circle), Thrissur, Mr. Stephen Robert Patron, Cochin Collective, Mr. K J Sohan, Former Mayor Cochin Corporation and President of Cochin Carnival Society, Mr. Bony Thomas, Co-founder of, Kochi Biennale Foundation and Advisor to Aa Aana (Malayalam), Mr. Bose Krishnamachari, President and Founder of Kochi Biennale Foundation, and Mr K J Maxi, Hon’ble MLA Kochi. The conservation heroes, who have been working relentlessly on the field from Section Forest Officers, Chief Veterinary Officers, Beat Officers, and the Labour Contract Co-operative Society team were felicitated for their contribution towards protecting the Elephant habitat and the forests.

Students with their elephant puppets during Bala Gaja; Photo by Sreenanth K

The Bala Gaja sessions were conducted to build knowledge and love for the animal through hands-on sessions of soft pastel painting, clay modelling, origami, and shadow puppetry. The children were sensitised by the team on general elephant facts and the needs of the species and their ecological role. While 15 sessions were conducted over a period of 30 days, and 519 children from 12 schools took part in the active learning, more than 2000 children were sensitised through the exhibition, art, dance and music.

Visitors pledging their support for elephant conservation during Gajotsavam. Photo by Sreenanth K

To ignite elephants in the consciousness of the people and policymakers and reinforce its status as India’s National Heritage Animal, select art pieces from the 101 elephant art pieces curated by Dr Alka Pande in Gaj Mahotsav 2018 were brought to Kerala for display through the month. New art pieces were created on the spot by local artists from Kerala. Anniyan PU, a Whittling artist created a 3-ft elephant out of a chunk of wood in less than a month.

Wood artist Aniyan PU making an elephant out of wood. Photo by Sreenanth K

Sujith Thankappan and Elwin Charlie, both painters coloured their canvases with elephant-themed paintings in acrylics. Sooraj Nambiatt aka Aana maker is well known for making hyper-realistic elephants. For this campaign, he chose fibreglass which he painted into vibrant colours. The show stopper was Mrs Shifana Nizam, a henna (mehendi) artist holding the world record for the largest mehendi wall art. Showcasing her traditional knowledge of Mei-lanji, Shifana painted visitors’ hands with elephant motif temporary tattoos pledging the individual’s support for elephants.

Band performance during Gajotsavam closing ceremony; Photo by Sreenanth K

The exhibition was curated and advised by Mr Bony Thomas, cartoonist, illustrator and one of the organisers of Kochi- Muziris Biennale and the founder member of Kochi Biennale Foundation. Sundays were reserved for screening of wildlife films by eminent filmmakers like Sandesh Kadur, Sangeeta Iyer, Biju Pankaj, and Suresh Elamon.  The CSI Parish Church hall was buzzing with people to experience local artists performing live and creating elephant-themed art. Around 30000 people were noted to visit the venue to gain knowledge and experience the celebration around Asian Elephants.

Read more about the expert panels on linear infrastructure, government agencies, Bar and Bench, spiritual leaders here.