Featured / Projects ELEFANTE BLANCO (White Elephant) Dates 2014 - 2015 Author Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo Topics Landscape, Social Issues ELEFANTE BLANCO (White Elephant) - Urban and landscape intervention in Cabo de la Vela, Guajira-Colombia.

The urban and landscape intervention reflects about corruption in the North of Colombia. 20 years ago, unscrupulous politicians had to construct a road to communicate the Lower with the Northern Guajira. They never did it. Instead, 18 concrete structures constructed to hold the road and let the water pass where left behind abandoned in the middle of the desert. The search for the “white elephant”, which at the beginning was a fable, then became a real issue that describes us as society: “white elephant” is an expression in Spanish to call buildings that were abandoned by the Government and are in disuse. The urban intervention consisted in covering these structures with a white tarpaulin to call the attention of locals and tourists about the problem. Also, to make a temporary dialogue with the environment, the animals and the people. Locals helped to cover and lit up the structure to be later photographed. The series is part of a bigger project called Zoología Real (Real Zoology), which describes social, cultural and political phenomenons where animals are named in phrases, proverbs and expressions. -Publisher