Jungle City Clonakilty

'Jungle City' is a large scale outdoor art exhibition that sees very many brightly painted, life sized animal sculptures installed in every nook and cranny around Clonakilty, West Cork. Cafés, pubs, restaurants, roundabouts, buildings, trees have become perches, watering holes, hunting and grazing grounds. Hornbills perch on buildings and tourists are stalked by stealthy tigers and Spillers Lane shakes under the weight of stampeding elephants! Scores of beautiful animals, all of them endangered, transform Clonakilty into a jungle. The sculptures are a free, all-weather visitor attraction for Clonakilty. Each sculpture has been decorated by a different West Cork or international artist. Background Jungle City was created by the animal conservation charity Elephant Family. Over the past number of years, this organisation has brought creativity and enjoyment of public art to millions of people across Ireland and the UK through high profile and colourful events. Working with host partners, artists, communities and schools together with public and private sector organisations, we create mass participation exhibitions that animate cities and towns and generate huge visitor numbers and media coverage. Through inspiring partnerships, our events bring immense pride to communities while offering extraordinary social and economic benefits as thousands of residents and tourists alike discover the wonderful world of conservation and creativity in a truly memorable shared experience. The concept piloted during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, where one host location recorded a 66% increase in visitors. There are all kinds of fun elements to this concept which include a pop-up shop where blank miniature animals can be decorated by families, safari trails, route maps, and talking animals via a downloadable app that will really bring it to life. Why Clonakilty? Clonakilty worked with ‘Elephant Family’ over a number of years on this project. In that time it helped to raise many thousands of euros to save the disappearing habitat of the Asian elephant. In 2008 the entire community came together to create ‘The Survival Tour’ which involved a herd of 13 life sized elephants which migrated across parks and festivals in the UK and Ireland for three months. The event raised €500,000. Together, the people of Clonakilty have helped to save a vital patch of wildlife habitat in Kerala, Southern India which is home to the world’s largest population of Asian elephants on the planet. Their contribution is recognized on a plaque in the middle of the jungle in Southern India, along with partners Dublin Zoo and Fota Wildlife Park. Supporters The project cost €130,000. The majority of funding came from The West Cork Development Partnership. Other major backers include the Town Council, the Clonakilty Chamber of Commerce and Cork County Council.