Colourful elephant parade comes to shopping centre

The elephants will be showcased as part of Elephant Parade 2010, an exhibition of life-size model baby elephants which will be displayed across London next summer to help raise awareness and support for elephant preservation.

Visitors to the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre this month have been able to see artists at work decorating some of the animals.

Shopping centre owner St Modwen has donated an empty shop unit to the Elephant Family charity to enable artists without their own studio space to take part in the parade.

"It's great to see the project making headway under our roof and a great start to the initiative," says James Stockdale, development manager at St Modwen.

"Shoppers have been curious to see the artists at work – they are a real talking point."

Elephant Parade London takes place between May and July 2010.

Participating artists include SE1's own Andrew Logan and Rosie Brooks as well as former Waterloo resident Tracey Emin.

The animals will be auctioned at the end of the exhibition.