Go! Rhinos

This summer, when walking through the streets of Southampton City Centre, you may come face to face with a rhino.

This isn’t really something you’d expect to see here; but it’s no cause for alarm! These rhinos are no ordinary rhinos, but part of a huge public art project to celebrate forty years of Marwell Wildlife. There are over thirty of these beasts or all colours, patterns and sizes, dotted around the city, showcasing artistic talent, school participation and raising awareness of rhino conservation.

It’s an idea that has been done before; as we speak, Bristol has been invaded by Wallace’s canine friend, Gromit. But it’s something new for Southampton, and word is spreading, with people taking to Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram to chat about these unusual interlopers!

I was incredibly curious when I heard about this project, and when my Mum came to stay for a few days to help me take a break from my Dissertation work, I thought it was the perfect chance to see a few of these sculptures for ourselves. On Monday morning we set off into the city centre to visit the SeaCity museum, do a spot of shopping and grab some food… and to take a look at the rhinos!

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to see all of them – some can be found as far away as Winchester and right down to the Southampton Town Quay, and we just didn’t have time to travel so far! But we decided to incorporate it into our day. After we visited the SeaCity Museum (more on that in my next blog post) we made our way down to West Quay for a spot of shopping, and took a look at some of the rhinos en route. With their bright colours, they’re hard to miss!

This Rhino, outside the Civic Centre, is called ‘Reveal’

Mum and I found ‘Seymour’, a rhino sporting a very fetching Hi Visibility outfit, very entertaining!

Now, as a university student I had a lot more interest in this project thanks to the University of Southampton’s participation! I’d been hearing talk of the university’s Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) department creating a rhino, and made my way into the Marlands shopping centre to see it for myself.

Say hello to Erica the Rhino!

She contains state-of-the-art technology, making her fully interactive – she can read QR codes and provides WIFI for visitors to use. She also displays tweets, and her mood can change. It was amazing to see how the university was taking part in the project, and it was great to see some of ECS’s hard work on show. I’m sure my fellow blogger Robin would have a good idea about the technology involved in creating Erica! Over twenty people were involved in the project, which makes it all the more impressive.

The department was given just three months to make Erica fully interactive. Each company or group involved in Go! Rhinos sponsored their rhino in exchange for the chance to customise the statue, and the ECS department decided to use Raspberry Pi computers and web interaction to make something a little different. I loved Erica – but maybe I was a little biased, as she was my favourite! The children around me seemed to love her too, and had fun making her ears move. A week later I took my friend and University of Southampton graduate Lissie to see Erica and she was just as impressed as I was!

You can find out more about Erica on her website:  http://www.ericatherhino.org/, or find her on Instagram @ericatherhino and Twitter @EricaTheRhino.

Erica was joined in the Marlands by a number of smaller rhinos, decorated by local schools. I particularly liked the sensory rhino, which was covered in children’s toys – including a hidden Where’s Wally. I thought this was perfect for children, but it was also wonderful to see how so many groups had been involved – truly a community project!

This sensory rhino was a really innovative idea –and you can just about spot Wally!

The project is not only a colourful addition to Southampton – nothing surprises you like turning a corner to see one! – but it also provides awareness for a very important environmental issue, excellent publicity for Marwell Wildlife, and a perfect summer holiday activity for children and families! Unfortunately, they have been in the news for more negative reasons – one or two of the rhinos were subject to vandalism – but now that people have been employed to make sure this doesn’t happen again, I have no doubt they’ll be around for the people of Southampton to enjoy for the rest of the summer!

I had a lovely time with my mum, as she stayed for a couple of days after she and my dad visited on the Sunday. I always love seeing both of my parents, especially now as my Master’s dissertation is getting intense and fairly stressful – it provides a good break from work and a chance to relax with family! When I move home in September I will miss getting excited about their visits – but I will be back living with them full time! Mum loved seeing Southampton and the museum, and the Go! Rhinos project– and I even took her to the Hansard Gallery on campus (I wrote about an exhibition in a blog earlier this year)!

Though I didn’t get to see all of the rhinos for Go! Rhinos, it was fun to spot them on my day out with my Mum; the variety of designs and ideas was great to see, and I’ll be keeping my eyes open to see if I can spot any more as I go about my day to day student life!

Go! Rhinos runs until 22 September; you can find out more, including a map, here: http://gorhinos.co.uk/

Joanne