Elpendier
Elpendier, an old name for an elephant from the Book of the Beasts, was a collaboration between Jill M. Boualaxai and Fiona Oliver Larkin for a walkabout performance at Kelburn Garden Party 2024. The inspiration for this collaboration came from Edinburgh myths, medieval bestiaries, playful animal costumes of kitsch festival wear, and traditional folk costumes.
In the city archives, I discovered a baker's complaint detailing the havoc wreaked by an elephant living in a tenement flat above his bakery in early 1700s. This unnamed female Asian elephant, known as The Dundee Elephant, died on the road near Dundee in 1706, leading to the first detailed anatomical study of its kind in Western Europe. I was inspired and saddened by the story of the Dundee elephant, a poor creature exported as a trophy of colonization. Our performance pays homage to this poor elephant in the form of a wearable sculpture, constructed from recycled materials. We have named the large-scale puppet Elp.
