Recent History of The Elephant Tree

The land where my father lived has terraces full of extraordinary olive trees. 

Most of them are over 500 years old and have found themselves pruned and growing into phenomenal shapes. 

One such tree we called the elephant tree because its surreal shape was reminiscent of the head and trunk of an elephant. 

It was so remarkable that my father photographed it, and I drew it. 

We would point it out to all our visitors. 

It grew on our neighbour’s land and one day she had it cut down so a bulldozer could pass through to dig out a pool for her. Performing as a caring person, she was after all the philosophical force behind the environmental magazine called Planeta Humano, she left out the cut wood for all the neighbors to share out. 

My father was so outraged that he painted the words “Planeta Demasiado Humano” on the wood. He was going to paint the tree, but ended up painting a portrait of the cut wood instead.

An olive tree knows many secrets and one of them is that we all need to be held accountable for our actions. Forgiven but not forgotten. And they say an elephant never forgets. 

"Elephant Tree" painted and photographed by Abdul Mati Klarwein. 2000

Drawing by me in 1999.