LAO P.D.R.Luang Prabang Province

Xayaboury ProvinceLao World Heritage Department

Presents:

Paklay - Thongmixay - Phiang - Xayaboury - Hongsa - Luang Prabang

Nov - Dec 2015 - Lao PDR

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VISION

Raise awareness about the need

for action to conserve Lao elephant

population - a cultural and natural heritage

of Laos - through the organisation of an

outstanding cultural event co-produced

by Luang Prabang province, Xayaboury

province, the Lao World Heritage

Department and the Elephant

Conservation Center.

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A journey...

The Elephant Caravan is a project which combines an elephant trek across rural and urban Laos with educational and conservation activities for village children, and which terminates in an artistic and cultural festival celebrating Luang Prabang’s 20 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The caravan and the cultural festival will be organised by the provinces of Luang Prabang and Xayaboury, in partnership with the Elephant Conservation Centre, and with the support of the French NGO “Des Eléphants & des Hommes” and the Lao-based “Community Learning International.”

The aim of the operation is to raise public awareness, both in Laos and internationally, about the threats to the Asian elephant and to the rainforest, its natural environment. There are only 900 elephants left in Laos, a country once known as the “Land of a Million Elephants”. If the current trend continues, the elephant, Earth’s largest land mammal, will completely disappear from Laos’s forests within the next fifty years.

The elephant caravan will march across the length of Xayaboury province, an area known as the cradle of ‘Lao elephant culture’. The province shelters 75% of the current national elephant population. The march symbolizes a call for help from Lao elephants to the citizens and governing bodies of Laos.

...In the Land of a Million Elephants

Over the course of a month and a half, the elephant caravan will walk 630km. The caravan will be accompanied by theatrical and musical performers as well as educational staff, making it a kind of multi-cultural roadshow. As the caravan stops in each village, there will be daily public performances to engage local residents and educate children about elephant conservation. The story will revolve around the elephant, as an ambassador of biodiversity and cultural diversity, of the cultural heritage of Laos and of the biological heritage of Humanity.

Because the elephant is both an endangered ‘keystone’ species in its ecosystem and a revered living emblem of the Lao nation, the Elephant Conservation Center is creating this event to pay tribute to the elephant and promote Laos as an environmentally friendly tourist destination.

The arrival of the caravan in villages in Xayaboury and Luang Prabang provinces represents an opportunity to send an educational message to young people and their parents. Thus, at each step, our team will conduct outreach activities in the community and provide illustrated books to school children. Based on the performance of our traveling theatre, and making use of educational materials created for the occasion, the team will work with educational institutions in villages to deliver key messages about environmental protection and elephant conservation.

In Luang Prabang, the caravan will join the celebrations for the World Heritage anniversary. Twenty elephants will enter a majestic procession into the ancient city amidst the installations and performances of Lao and international artists.

A light, fire & sound performance uniquely designed to celebrate the city’s cultural landmarks and the elephant procession will mark the anniversary of the cultural capital of Laos.

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EDUCATEIntegral to our work will be the production of educational

materials on Asian elephants‘ role in Lao culture and traditions and their importance

for the ecosystem. Performances and educational activities will be organised and educational materials will be disseminated to schoolchildren during the roadshow

along the caravan’s route.

Xayaboury & Luang Prabang

Xayaboury is home to the largest Asian elephant population in Laos, therefore making the province a key reservoir for this endangered species.Luang Prabang is the former royal capital of the “Land of a Million Elephants”.

As a living icon with important symbolic connotations and historical associations for many Asian cultures, the elephant is an animal dear to the hearts of all people in Laos and the region. Unfortunately, it is no exaggeration to say that the elephant, one of the defining components of Asian heritage is today under threat.

Luang Prabang province, Xayaboury province, the Lao World Heritage Department and the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) with their

cultural approach to conservation, wish to play a key role in raising regional and international awareness of the need to protect the Asian elephant, a vital cultural and biological heritage of Laos.

They will also promote cultural exchange and inter-cultural dialogue, through a shared commitment to ensure a happy future for the Asian elephant which has played such an important role in all the region’s cultures throughout history.

COMMUNICATE

Attractive to the public, international

travellers, tour operators and international

media, the concept of an Elephant Caravan

is an original idea that highlights the fate

of the Asian elephant and promote the

country as a unique natural and cultural

tourist destination.

Itinerary

The Caravan in figures:

• 630 km

• 53 days walking

• Average distance of 19km/day

• 46 villages

• 12 elephants from Xayabury

• 8 elephants from Luang Prabang

• 66 people

Participants

The Elephant Conservation Center is the only elephant hospital and nursery in Laos. It is committed to ensuring the health, wellbeing and perpetuation of endangered elephant populations. Sebastien Duffillot is the co-founder of ElefantAsia, the Elephant Conservation Centre and the Elephant Festival in Laos and Regional Programme Manager for Southeast Asia for “Des Eléphants et des Hommes.” In 2002, Sebastien travelled 1.300 km with 4 elephants from Champassak to Luang Prabang in Laos’s first ever Elephant Caravan.

Community Learning International and “Des Elephants et des Hommes” will work together to develop and deliver the educational component of the caravan. The arrival of the caravan in villages in Xayaboury and Luang Prabang provinces represents an opportunity to send an educational message to young people and their parents. Thus, at each step, our team will conduct outreach activities in the community and provide illustrated books to school children.

Media representatives will accompany the caravan. The adventure of the caravan and the Luang Prabang celebrations will lead to the production of a TV documentary, highlighting the amazing journey, the spectacular celebration and the important need for elephant conservation in Laos. One film crew will accompany the caravan in its entirety while other international TV crews will join the celebrations in Luang Prabang. A professional team of photographers, illustrators and writers will recount the epic journey of the elephant caravan, bringing the elephant’s call to action to an international audience. The publicity leading up to the celebration in Luang Prabang and depicting the performances will highlight the location’s role as an important and exciting tourist destination in the region.

The Luang Prabang celebrations will be held under the High Patronage of:

• HE the Prime Minister

• The Ministry of Education and Sports

• The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism

• The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

• The Department of Interior Security

• The Department of Defense

• The Governor of Luang Prabang Province

• The Governor of Xayaboury Province

• The Director General of UNESCO (World Heritage)

Patrick and Margot Auzier are creative and innovative ‘masters of fire’; specialists of monumental fire installations. The scenography and unique poetry of their shows - often described as ‘fire operas’ - convey a profound vision of the chosen natural landscape, giving a new life to urban and rural areas, fascinating the public and sublimating the environment.Their show will be presented along main city’s avenues and rivers to celebrate the cultural riches and the beauty of Luang Prabang World Heritage City.

Khao Niew theatre group was established in Vientiane in 2008, and is directed by Lattanakone Insisiengmay. The company has staged five plays since its creation: Broken Dream (2010), What! (2011), Lao Pinocchio (2012), Metamorfoz (2011) and Music Elephant (2012). Over the years, Khao Niew’s group has broadened its horizons by working on collaborative cultural and art programmes with both local and international artists including: Kabong Lao puppet theatre (Lao PDR), Turak Théâtre/Michel Laubu (France), Phare Ponleu Selpak (Cambodia), Jeobong Co. (Japan & Laos) and Teatr Piba (France). Khao Niew is an active member of the PETA-Mekong Partnership Programme (ASEAN partnership and support programme for the performing arts community within the Greater Mekong Subregion). Khao Niew will invite international performers and musicians to join them for the production of an exclusive artistic creation during the Elephant Caravan.

Exhibitions of Visual Arts. Various artists will contribute to the celebrations in Luang Prabang under the direction of Agnès Rosse. Contemporary artist Bibi will produce a monumental backlit elephant sculpture. Visual Artist Lionel Lauret will project still & animated images of elephants through the ages on Luang Prabang’s landmark buildings. Agnès and Caroline Rosse will show a retrospective exhibition of their elephant encounters in Laos since 2001 (Elephant Caravan 2002, Elephant Festivals 2008, 2010, 2012, Elephant Conservation Centre, 2012). Yves Bernard and his Tuktuk Cinema will project the film ‘Chang’ (1927) on a giant outdoors screen on the banks of the Mekong river and set to music by the Champassak Shadow Theatre Orchestra. Together, with their drawings, texts, floral, vegetal and glowing creations, they will create a unique poetic route across the city.

The Elephant Caravan in pictures©

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Contacts

ADDRESS:

Elephant Conservation Center

Po Box 530 Vientiane, Lao PDR

TEL: +856-20-96591061

EMAIL: seb@elephantconservationcenter.com

WEBSITE: http://www.theelephantcaravan.org/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com.

Search ‘The Elephant Caravan’

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/elephantlaos

ECCNam Tien, Sayaboury Province

Po Box 530, Lao PDR

CLICommunity Learning InternationalSisavangvong Rd, Luang Prabang,

Lao PDR

DEDHDes Eléphants et des Hommes

Paris, France

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LAO P.D.R.Luang Prabang Province

Sayaboury ProvinceLao World Heritage Department