Saturday 8 September 2012

Melbourne, a city, in 50 elephants

It can be hard to take pictures of a city you know very well. I know Melbourne very well. I lived there in the 80s, and visited many, many times since then. I used to go once or twice a year. Sadly, I haven't been able to visit as often in the past few years, indeed it had been 3 years since my last visit.

 On my recent trip to Melbourne there was a promotion to celebrate the sesquicentenary of Melbourne Zoo. 50 fibreglass models of elephant calf Mali have been placed in multiple locations in the inner city and CBD. Called Mali in the City, it has it's own iphone app to help you locate the Malis, and chart your progress. It was like a modern day treasure hunt. I didn't want or expect to find all 50 Malis when I started, but once I got to 25 I knew that I would do it. And I did. It's been a very successful promotion I think, at every Mali I found there were people there enjoying Mali, taking photos, plotting their progress on their iphone.

 Here are some shots that help to show off Melbourne, and her panoramas. Not all 50 you'll be pleased to know.

Mali is appropriate for this week as yesterday, Sept 7 was National Threatened Species Day. Held on Sept 7 each year to commemorate the death of the last Tasmanian Tiger in Hobart Zoo in 1936.
2 Malis at St Paul's Cathedral
Saggy, baggy elephant at the visitors centre
very cool knitted covering, it wasn't wet and stinky
despite being out in the elements
Writers Festival flags fluttering
Federation Square- the location for the Writers Festival

Melbourne City from the south side of the Yarra

The Pollock-esque Mali on the left didn't impress me
 til I learnt that Mali painted it herself!
One of my favourites- inside the Intercontinental
showcasing the threatened Helmeted Honeyeater
Melbourne CBD from parkland at the Yarra

Here today.....Melbourne Zoo
I only wish that I had enough money to buy my favourite one at the charity auction. She'd look fabulous in my garden. Perhaps I'll show you her another time.

Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books


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27 comments:

  1. Cipriano8 September 2012 at 15:57

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Cipriano8 September 2012 at 15:57

    These are some snazzy looking elephants.
    But... elephants? In Australia?
    I would have been thinking hmmm... kangaroos. Or wallabies. Maybe an ostrich or fifty.
    Or echidnas.

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  3. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)8 September 2012 at 16:00

    What a marvelous way to show off such a beautiful city. I adore these types of public art promotions. We had "Cows on Parade" in Chicago about 10 years ago and it was a lot of fun.

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  4. Trish8 September 2012 at 20:15

    I love it when cities do things like that. When we were in Vancouver in 2009 there were painted eagles and killer whales all over the city in celebration of the upcoming 2010 winter Olympics. I featured them in one of my Saturday Snapshots too.

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  5. Paulita 8 September 2012 at 21:36

    It's like a scavenger hunt in the city. They're all so colorful. When we were in Munich, they had lions throughout the city. In Lexington, Ky., they had horses, of course. Some place had cows, I can't remember. Here's Mine

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  6. Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate8 September 2012 at 21:38

    These elephants are so unique art. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
    Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

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  7. Laurel-Rain Snow8 September 2012 at 22:04

    Wonderful...and kind of surprising, too. Like Cipriano, I would have thought kangaroos...lol

    Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

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  8. BooksPlease8 September 2012 at 22:40

    So many elephants - not what I expected to see in photos of Melbourne! :)

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  9. Anonymous8 September 2012 at 23:48

    Hi Louise, Stunning Photos. I have expected elephants but the creations are wonderful. Thanks for sharing. **New Follower to ur blog**

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  10. Sheila (Bookjourney)9 September 2012 at 01:35

    These are so great! Brainerd Minnesota (my corner of the earth) did a similar thing with oxen... I think because we are known for Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.... yeah, the elephants are cooler. :)

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  11. Book Savvy Babe9 September 2012 at 01:52

    very fun, I love seeing the painted statues, and I have always had a soft spot for elephants (courtesy of Dumbo, I believe...) Anyhow, thanks for sharing your pictures this week! Book Savvy Babe

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  12. Alyce9 September 2012 at 01:53

    I would love to see more photos of the Mali elephants! That must have been so much fun to hunt them all down.

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  13. Sim Carter9 September 2012 at 02:51

    I used to collect elephants with their trunks up (lucky) - this elephant hunt would have kept me busy! Funny, looking at Alyce's poetry out of bookspine post and your elephant treasure hunt reminds me how we humans, even the grown up variety, not only like to play but we need to play.

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  14. DCMetroreader9 September 2012 at 05:18

    Very cool elephants.

    Washington DC has done street displays with pigs and other animals. They really liven the city up!

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  15. Barbara9 September 2012 at 05:34

    These works of art are wonderful!! I've seen a similar display using horses. Wonderful!

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  16. bermudaonion9 September 2012 at 05:37

    They have peanuts like that in the town my mother lives in. They're fun to discover.

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  17. Christine Harding9 September 2012 at 06:40

    They are fabulous - I shall send a link to my elder daughter, who is nuts about elepants! My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/g4s6H

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  18. ZaraAlexis9 September 2012 at 08:21

    I love the one inside the Intercontinental Showcasing, too! It's wonderful that you captured each of these. They're equivalent to our Toronto's city moose!

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  19. Bev Hankins9 September 2012 at 10:31

    Love all the elephants around Melbourne! We have a town in Southern Indiana that has painted pigs everywhere...but I'm afraid I don't know the story behind that.

    Here's my Saturday Snapshot.

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  20. Irene9 September 2012 at 11:03

    They are all so wonderful. I was so sad to learn of the death of the Tasmanian tiger. What an absolute shame.

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  21. Marg9 September 2012 at 20:37

    I have so enjoyed looking for all the Mali's in the city. I still have a few to find but I plan to go into the city on the weekend and find as many as I can!

    Enjoyed your photos.

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  22. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz9 September 2012 at 21:51

    This reminds me of all the cows that were all over Houston many years ago. (I should Google this.) It was very fun seeing these decorated cows, often in surprising places.

    I love the idea of the treasure hunt, too. Wouldn't it be fun to do something like this at school? A virtual trip around the world, using QR codes? Mmmm...need to think more about this!

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  23. Susan Lindquist9 September 2012 at 23:39

    Love it! There are so many beautiful ones to see! In our neck of the woods, there are moose all over the city of Bennington, Vermont and bears in Wilmington, Vermont - done by local artists and sold for charity also ... what a great way to provide public art and also raise monies for good causes!

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  24. edgar10 September 2012 at 01:37

    It seems to be similar to painted cows done by artists and displayed in the ciites around the world to promote businesses.
    Very colorful elephants.

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  25. Wrighty10 September 2012 at 06:39

    What a wonderful idea! We have cities nearby that have squirrel, horse and buffalo collections and they are so creative. I love the idea of "collecting" them all. It sounds like fun! I would LOVE to visit Melbourne someday! :)

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  26. srivalli10 September 2012 at 08:00

    Wow beautiful Malis! I would love to see them in person! Great pictures!

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  27. Kailana10 September 2012 at 12:03

    I have been seeing the Mali pictures from another Aussie and I think they are a lot of fun. :)

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