Elephant Invasion Hits Nottingham! by Sarina, year 10

An elephant at Jerusalem Inn

It started with cows in America, with lambs and bananas in Liverpool. Now Nottingham has been invaded. By elephants. 

Obviously they aren't real elephants- they are large statues which have been decorated by various artists and local school children. The elephants can be found dotted around the Victoria and Broadmarsh centres allowing everyone to view them. The elephants range from beautiful flower covered elephants to an unusual stop sign elephant. 

The designers include a range of artists such as Sophie Corydon who based her black and white flower elephant on her painting 'White Triumphator' and Angie Rogers, whose elephant features a pseudo stained glass window and features of the York Minister Church.

Personally, I liked the Wild London elephant by Patricia Shrigley, who says that, 'We have to look after the living planet and all its creatures because without them it would be a sad, barren earth.' The cheerful blossom and elegant animals that adorn this elephant brighten up the less than beautiful shopping centre.

One problem with the elephant design is that they all seem to come engraved with a row of hearts craved into their ankle. Some artists have tactically ignored this strange feature, preferring instead to place emphasis on their individual elephants themes, while others have ruined their otherwise dramatic designs by choosing to colour these in light pink or red, destroying the overall effective and creative impact.

Viewers can either follow the trail around the shopping centre or purchase a miniature elephant at one of the two elephant stores for only £29.99. This may sound a little steep after Christmas but when you consider that the original elephants cost around £7500 it seems a real bargain.

This strange parade has been created to support the conservation of Asian elephants, although it may also be aimed at boasting sales in the nearby shops... Whatever the motive behind it these elephants go a long way to cheering up a usually dreary part of Nottingham. They will be staying in Nottingham for 5 weeks before touring the rest of the country.