Starting on, March 23rd through Sunday, March 28th Knight&Hammer is a proud sponsor of the 2010 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament which benefits National Elephant Institute and The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF). The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation is part of the Knight&Hammer Jewelry with a ConscienceTM charitable initiative. Artist Mey-Mey Lim worked with Knight&Hammer's Joseph Knight to create a series of four stylized elephants based on elephants residing at the GTAEF. Lynchee, cared for by Lord, launches the collection which expects to raise $80,000.00US through the sale of these Limited Edition necklace/zipper pulls.
Lynchee made in the United States, wears a ruby earring set in sterling silver on an 18" chain. Available for $750.00US. Knight&Hammer also donated two rings from their Trenta Collection (Ganesha and Infinity Aps), to the Saturday, March 27th Gala Dinner Night at Pitch – Theme: Have a swinging good time at Anantara’s Supper Club with entertainment by renown American Jazz legend Cherryl Hayes and her band. To further benefit GTAEF, Knight&Hammer has donated gift certificates for on-line purchases and 10% donation of on-line sales.
The events major sponsor is Audemars Piguet - one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious watchmakers - and will see a number of teams go trunk to trunk to win the coveted King's Cup trophy.
An opening parade and blessing ceremony will be held in Chiang Saen town on the first day of event to showcase the culture of the Golden Triangle region with northern traditional-style dancers, hill-tribe villagers in traditional costume, elephant spirit men (Khru Ba Yai), and colourfully decorated pachyderms. The parade will mark the kick-off of the weeklong competition held on the banks of the Ruak River, which divides Thailand from Burma.
During the first five years of the tournament, the event took place in the Royal seaside town of Hua Hin before moving to the native home of elephants in 2006 – the Golden Triangle. The tournament was introduced to Thailand in 2001 by Anantara Resorts and is a charitable event that raises money for the benefit of all Thailand’s elephants.
In just eight years the King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament has gone from a small two-day event with six teams into a week-long extravaganza, which in 2009 featured 12 teams from four continents, encompassing 40 players from at least 15 countries.
Through its own Elephant Camp located within the grounds of the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, the property’s focus on the future of Thailand’s pachyderm population forms an integral part of the resort’s operations 0n an ongoing basis. Resident Elephant Camp Director, John Roberts, worked closely with the Thai government’s Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang to develop Anantara’s camp as an elephant sanctuary and continues to work with them on several ‘big picture’ conservation projects.
To date the tournament has raised over US$250,000 for the National Elephant Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment, and mahout training to Thailand’s elephant population, this has been distributed as cash, in the form of pick up trucks and a custom built elephant ambulance. In 2009 the funds were used to run the ambulance as well as provide housing at the Centre’s elephant hospital allowing it to provide free accommodation as well as medical treatment to any sick elephant in Thailand, these funds also provided a mobile veterinary centrifuge for their mobile elephant clinic. Proceeds from the 2009 project have been used to ‘rescue rent’ five street elephants to be trained in occupational therapy as part of a joint Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, Chiang Mai University project investigating the benefits of using elephants to treat Autism.
It is estimated that Thailand has around 3,600 domesticated elephants and 1,500 wild elephants. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) fully endorses the King’s Cup Elephant Polo tournament, having identified it as one of the country’s prime annual special events. It will take place in the grounds of Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, and spectator entrance is free.
To follow the tournament on-line: http://www.anantaraelephantpolo.com/2010/p_schedule.php
More About Mey-Mey Lim:
Mey-Mey Lim studied painting, drawing and sculpture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, achieving her BFA. Mrs. Lim has studied figurative realism at the New York Academy of Art, earning an MFA degree in painting.
"Departure" by Mey-Mey Lim, Oil on Canvas 5'x4'Mey-Mey continues to create in both 2-D and 3-D mediums in the New York City area, and each medium allows her to express different ideas. Her watercolor and oil paintings explore the presence and absence of people in a landscape, while her figurative sculptures capture the essential nature of people and animals.
In her artwork, whether it’s painting or sculpture, Mey-Mey Lim takes scenes and objects from life, simplifying their character, shapes and gesture. The resulting artwork expresses a quiet beauty.
Mey-Mey Lim’s work has shown in Chicago, Manhattan, and New Jersey. Her sculptures and paintings are in private collections in Chicago, New Jersey, California, Manhattan, and Puerto Rico.
http://www.meymeylim.com/
