Helpt Elkander - Alebrijes

The dreamworld of Helpt Elkander

‘Alebrijes’ are fantasy animals from Mexican folk art. They were invented by the artist Pedro Linares, who encountered them in a dream and then made them into reality. Designers Thierry Sprenkels and Jeroen Michielsen want to continue this colourful dream art in this Corso and have materialized these animals in their design for the hamlet of Helpt Elkander. Jeroen tells us about the approach of the float: “Actually, we want to recreate what we think the artist saw in his dream. This way we invite the audience to step into that dreamworld.” Both designers help with construction at Helpt Elkander, but this is the first design they will build there together.

The construction process will be somewhat different than in the years before. The designs of Helpt Elkander are usually more ‘measurable’: construction is not based on the scale model but on measurements that have been calculated in advance. That is slightly different with this design. About thirteen animals will be crawling around and over each other, spread across two floats with a combined length of 26 to 28 meters. Thierry and Jeroen want plenty of movement in the float. That is not particularly easy to accomplish. “This float is more challenging, especially where the design of the animals is concerned. This requires more creative input from the neighbourhood itself. The finer details will be determined during construction.” There is a lot of variation and finishing in the use of colour. The designers want to use the entire colour palette of dahlias and are currently at approximately 30 dahlia varieties. After all, the animals are extremely colourful and have alternating patterns on their fur. So a lot of precision work will be required during the final weekend when the flowers are applied.

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Jeroen Michielsen (29) works as a test mechanic in electrical engineering and Thierry Sprenkels (29) is a set builder. This is the fourth design for both of them.

Original Dutch Text: Lieve Bastiaansen
Translation: Bas Booij
Photo: Luzanne Foesenek

Hamlet Helpt-Elkander
www.helptelkander.nl

This article is brought to you by Corsief. An independent magazine about corsos in general and the Zundert flower parade in particular. The magazine is produced entirely by volunteers, who are all more or less active in the Zundert flower parade world. Corsief is entirely full-colour and appears four times a year.