Most of us are familiar with the expression “the elephant in the room”. The expression is used to explain a difficult topic or problem that no one wants to talk about.

Unfortunately, this means that there are many important topics that are avoided, when in fact, they deserve our attention. This summer, we have chosen to sponsor an event that sheds light on a topic that deserves our utmost attention, namely, mental health.

Find the elephant

Behind the event is Psykiatrifonden (the psychiatry foundation), Aarhus Municipality and the English organization Wild in Art.

It is carried out in Aarhus, Denmark, in June 2024. In June, a bunch of elephant sculptures will be placed around Aarhus. The elephants symbolize the need to talk more openly about mental health.

All elephants will have their own unique design and will be painted by local and international artists prior to the event.

For 9 weeks, the elephants form a free art trail around the city for both locals and tourists to enjoy. To end the event, all elephants will be gathered in an exhibition and later be put up for sale at a big welfare-auction.

When we heard about the opportunity to support this important cause and have our own elephant on the streets, we decided to become a sponsor.

(Text continues under the image)

Meet our elephant

Our sponsorship has resulted in our very own elephant sculpture.

The artist painting our elephant is Mads Edinger. He is a Danish, self-taught visual artist who specializes in the figurative universe. He cultivates imperfections and the imperfect, which makes his works raw and aesthetic. It is important to him to create something that doesn’t resemble reality so much that it can be caught on camera. He describes his own universe as a place where unconventional thoughts, which we prefer to avoid, become reality.

Important project for us an employer

Our people are the heart of our organization. The well-being and health of our employees is therefore essential, be it mental or physical. Well-aware that mental health is often an avoided topic, we want to help change this. By engaging in ‘Find the elephant’ we want to participate in the public dialogue to help raise awareness collectively. At the same time, we wish to tell our employees that mental health is important to us and that we want everyone to feel that they can speak freely about it, never doubting that they have our support.

During the course of the event, we hope to engage our people to participate in different ways, such as sharing information about the project and walking the "elephant trail".