Town heeds the call of the jungle
A €130,000 arts project aims to significantly boost visitor numbers to Clonakilty by installing a parade of brightly-painted, life-sized, “talking” sculptures of elephants, orangutans, tigers, hornbills, and crocodiles at strategic points around the town
The matter was discussed at a public meeting in Clonakilty last night, and local residents now have a week to formally submit their opinions on whether Clonakilty should become Ireland’s first Jungle City, turning its parks, walks and pavements into watering holes, hunting fields and grazing grounds.
The project already has the support of Clonakilty Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce as well as the West Cork Development Partnership, which has already offered substantial funding.
If the initiative gets the thumbs up from local residents, 24 life-sized sculptures, about half of which have already been decorated by international artists, will begin arriving in the town in mid-May to be completed by local artists, schools and community groups.
“There are some really fun elements to this project,” said project spokeswoman Mary Powys.
“Jungle City celebrates the magnificence of the worlds’ most spectacular yet endangered wildlife, generating awareness of the plight and making everyone smile at the same time.” Ms Powys said the animals would “talk” via a downloadable app and that there would also be a Jungle City Headquarters, where visitors could paint their own animals.
The sculptures, which will be positioned around the picturesque town in June, could have a major impact on visitor numbers, she added.
Ms Powys said that when the project was piloted at the Royal Botanical Gardens during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, the venue experienced a 66% rise in visitor numbers.
The initiative, which will be carried out in conjunction with Sustainable Clonakilty, is a follow-on from the widely-publicised 2008 Survival Tour, which saw a herd of life-sized elephants placed at Inchydoney Beach.
This time, however, the sculptures will be located along a special “safari trail” in and around the town itself.
“The animals will be hidden in every nook and cranny — there are five different species and 24 sculptures. The public will become obsessed with finding them — it’s great fun,” said Ms Powys, who said that while the main sponsor was the WCDP, businesses around the town would have the chance to sponsor individual animals.
“The purpose is to boost visitor numbers and make Clon an even more attractive tourism destination, as well as creating awareness about how we need to help endangered animals,” she said, adding that the concept had been developed by a British charity, Elephant Family.
While the Jungle City animals will become a permanent feature around Clonakilty, the project will move to 10 other cities including New York and Sydney over the next 15 years — but these cities, said Ms Powys, would auction the sculptures off to raise money for the charity.
* For further information visit www.jungle-city.org
