All for a noble cause!
It was a unique gathering of artists all over the world as they exemplified their creativity with a worthy cause. The United Buddy Bear Show opened recently at a highly symbolic square in Berlin, next to the Brandenburger Gate and Pariser Platz where the historic Berlin Wall used to stand that divided Germany.
The Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit along with the organisers Eva and Dr. Klaus Herlitz delivered the opening address during the event. He also read a message of Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Joschka Fischer to the audience. The inauguration ceremony was attended by about 500 guests. Among those present were more than 60 ambassadors, representatives of the City of Berlin, other government officials, art connoisseurs, business people and the press.
Respective
The highly successful event featured various intricate designs of bear sculptures. Berlin the capital of Germany considers the bear as a heraldic animal. A big number of embassies have come to represent their respective countries in this booming city. The thrust of the event was to develop an aesthetic and artistic appeal for tolerance and international understanding. The concept was to create a circle of Buddy Bears standing together and symbolically taking each other by the hand in order to form a circle of solidarity.
About 125 artists participated in the activity and presented a Berlin Buddy Bear for their respective countries. Each bear depicts its home country that has established bilateral relations with Germany. The Association Initiative Toleranz of the German Foreign Office and the Buddy Bear Company invited all the embassies to participate in this event aimed at promoting unity and solidarity among countries across the globe.
Apart from the symbolism in the circle of "United Buddy Bears" - tolerance and international understanding, an essential matter of concern was to have the bears designed by native artists. Artists from four continents came to Berlin to design their country's bear.
Kuwait was represented by famous Kuwaiti artist, Thuraya AI-Baqsami, who travelled to Berlin earlier in March this year to prepare the painting of her Kuwaiti Buddy Bear in an "open-studio" at an old tram depot of the Berlin Transport Services. The generous sponsorship of the organisers of the Buddy Bear show aIso enabled Thuraya's 19-year-old daughter Monira AI-Qadiri to present her artistic ingenuity. Monira designed her artistic ideas onto her own buddy bear, with a special emphasis on the subject of "oil". This bear will be seen later on in the streets of Berlin. AI-Baqsami lauded the excellent atmosphere during the painting process among the artists. Working with various artists was filled with fun and laughter despite language barriers at times. Respect for each other's work was clearly seen among the participating artists.
This November, the circle of "United Buddy Bears" will be dissolved and a unique art event will come to an end. Each artwork will be removed from the premises of their respective embassies. On the other hand, others will be transported to the artist's home countries while some will be auctioned off by and in aid of UNICEF.