Coca Cola Elephant
#SUBHEADING#What is the Coca Cola Elephant?#SUBHEADINGEND# The Coca Cola Elephant is an object that was purchased in 2006 for the new museum. It's a foot high elephant made out of coca cola tins by a West African artist typical of the recycled metal work made for the tourist market there. This is a low cost contemporary item but it enables us to learn more about a number of issues in West Africa including tourism and globalisation. #SUBHEADING#Recycling#SUBHEADINGEND# Recycling in the United Kingdom is becoming more important as we look at the impact of our waste on the environment. Whilst recycling is becoming more popular in the UK, for West Africa it has long been a way of life. In the UK it is done for environmental reasons but in West Africa people recycle for economic reasons. #IMAGE# #SUBHEADING#Display#SUBHEADINGEND# It is on display in the new contemporary galleries at Wilberforce House Museum. Modern slavery is a huge part of the new displays. The museum still tells the story of Wilberforce and the anti-slavery campaign but looks at it in the wider context including African and Caribbean resisters and views. Hull has been twinned with Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone in West Africa since the 1980s. Work is done with local school children relating to human rights and there are many connections between children here in Hull and in Freetown. An artist has been working with school children in Freetown and Hull looking at life in West Africa. This project has explored how we recycle rubbish in both cities by looking at what it is and how we use it. #SUBHEADING#Representation#SUBHEADINGEND# The Coca Cola Elephant shows the way that some West African artists work with objects. Recycling is necessary and everything is recycled, bottle tops are used for rivets in Freetown. However drinks cans are put to creative purposes for artworks such as this elephant, and these are sold to the tourist industry, which is an important economic factor. Coca Cola is a globally recognised symbol and for some artists it is a way of getting some control and perhaps trying to make some sense of the past. It tells us something about the exploitation of Africa by the multinationals. And of course the elephant is a magnificent emblem of Africa and one that attracts tourists to the continent. #IMAGE#
