A herd of 100 life-sized elephants has just arrived on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Back Bay. The sculptures are part of a touring public art exhibition called The Great Elephant Migration. Since 2024, the herd has traveled across the United States, including stops in New York City, Newport, Rhode Island, Miami, and Houston. The elephants range from small calves to large adults. They are made from a repurposed invasive plant called Lantana camara by indigenous artisans from in Southern India. Each sculpture takes three to four months to complete and is inspired by a real-life elephant that lives in the region. Jeanine and I stopped to walk among the herd on the way home from the kids’ house, where I spent the afternoon installing a new washer/dryer hookup in Nico’s unit, and Jeanine did some gardening.

By way of comparison, below is a photo I took in 2004 of a real herd of elephants in South Africa. At the time, I was lying on top of a minivan that was rapidly backing up to make way for the procession.