(VNF) - A clay and sculpture workshop entitled “Tao ra voi – Cuu roi voi” (Make an Elephant – Save an Elephant), created and organized by Bulgarian artist George Burchett, has been held from September 26^th to 30^th at Heritage Space, My Dinh 2 Ward, Tu Liem District, Hanoi.

The workshop is part of the programme Month of Arts Practice 2016, established by Heritage Space to promote interactive exchanges between the artist and the public.

Taking part in the workshop, participants are introduced to basic clay modeling and make a simple elephant with clay in order to raise awareness from public in respecting and protecting the elephants of Vietnam which are in danger of becoming extinction.

All clay products will then be exhibited at the end of the project.

“Make an elephant and save an elephant" with George Burchett at the workshop. (Photo: Month of Arts Practice on Facebook)

Burchett said his current concern, as an artist and a citizen of the world, is how to protect our natural environment.

“By ‘natural’, I don’t mean only ‘nature’. I also mean traditional cultures, national customs, all things that make people and an inpidual unique. Every Vietnamese, old and young, is familiar with the image of the elephant as part of the history, legends, the spiritual and cultural identity of Vietnam.”

“However, not many people are aware the elephants of Vietnam are on the brink of extinction. Their disappearance will not only be an ecological disaster – for Vietnam and the world – but also a tragic and irreversible loss to Vietnam’s culture. Vietnam’s elephants are more than just wild animals, they are part of Vietnamese history, culture, tradition, religion. How many Vietnamese heroes – like Hai Ba Trung, Ba Trieu and countless others – rode elephants into battle against invaders? Elephants played an important role in the country’s long and heroic history of defending the country against invaders. Now, it is the right time to repay the elephants by treating them with the same respect we have given to our war heroes and veterans,” he said.

"Ba Trieu" by George Burchett at his art studio on Dang Thai Mai street. (Photo: Month of Arts Practice on Facebook)

The main purpose of the project would be to ring as many alarm bells as possible and bring urgent environmental issues to public attention with artworks, exhibitions, publications, media campaigns, conferences and other events. People need to be reminded of this and alerted to the immediate threat to this magnificent animals and their natural environment.

George Burchett was born in Hanoi in 1955. Having graduated with master degree in mural art from Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1974, he has lived and worked as an artist in Paris, Bulgaria, Sydney, and Australia. His works have been exhibited in Paris, Sofia, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Hanoi, and northern Hoa Binh Province. He currently lives and works in Hanoi./.

Minh Phuong