Marygrove College is hosting
Nomkhubulwane (Nom-koo-bull-WAH-nee, Zulu for Mother Earth), an elephant sculpture created by South African artist Andries Botha. The sculpture arrived on campus on Oct. 8 and is being prominently displayed. "We are housing it right in front of our main building, central to campus," says Marygrove president David Fike. "(We hope) it performs in the way the art is intended: to spark conversation, catalyze conversation around subjects we need to talk about, like the vulnerability of the ecological footprint."
The life-size sculpture stands nine-feet tall and weighs in at 1.3 tons. Made of of galvanized steel and recycled truck tires, Nomkhubulwane is traveling around the world to raise awareness about environmental issues and is one of 17 elephants on display globally by the
Human Elephant Foundation. "This majestic sculpture of an elephant communicates in way that words can't always," says Fike. "We can't avoid talking about the elephant in the room. This physical elephant represents the physical vulnerability of all of us."
Nomkhubulwane's tenure at Marygrove coincides with the college's hosting of the 2010
Great Lakes Bioneers Conference and will also be a focus of visits to campus from over 300 children from 20 to 30 area schools. Elementary, middle school and high school students will engage in lessons about elephants and ecology while, at the same time, the college's Beyond Words Gallery will display student works related to the project.
Nomkhubulwane's visit to Marygrove was made possible with funding support from DTE Energy. The elephant will migrate to the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History on Oct. 20.
Source: David Fike, Marygrove College
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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