You've heard of gorillas in the mist, today it was elephants in the dry ice – on the fifth floor of a multi-storey car park – as Hull's bid to become the UK's City Of Culture took a distinctly pachyderm twist. The elephants, made from a combination of papier maché and muslin, spent the afternoon plodding around the concrete pillars of Pryme Street car park being filmed as part of the Hull 2017 bid presentation.
Councillor Stephen Bayes, portfolio holder for visitor destination and cultural strategy, said: "Bringing the elephants here today is a bit of a taster for what we could get if we win the City Of Culture title. It's a chance to bring all different sorts of art to Hull and something just a little different."
The elephants were operated by performers from Newcastle theatre company Dodgy Clutch and were created in partnership with the market theatre of Johannesburg. They have performed in shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, on Broadway and in South Africa. If Hull succeeds in its attempt to win the City Of Culture 2017 title, the elephants will form part of a spectacular opening parade through the city's streets, which will also feature 3,000 lantern-bearing volunteers and dancing white telephone boxes.
Elephants were chosen as a theme for the opening ceremony because of their historical connections with the city. In Edwardian Hull, large zoological gardens in the Spring Bank and Princes Avenue area were home to a number of elephants, which could be seen walking along Spring Bank every morning to be washed in the River Hull. In 1931, elephants were taken from Hull to Newcastle, from one fair to another, so that another northern city could witness the animals' splendour.
Elephants are also an international symbol for freedom, one of the four pillars the Hull Bid is built on.
