UNITED BUDDY BEARS SHOW - Cairo 2007

Rolando Rasmussen
* 1942 in Asunción, Paraguay
1965 Dancer at the Deutsche Oper a. Rhein
1970 Dancer, Deutsche Oper Berlin
1979 Opening of a Textile Art Gallery in Berlin
1997 Costume Department, Deutsche Oper Berlin
2006 Foundation of the Group Paraguay
Rolando Rasmussen mainly works in applied textile art, sometimes in combination with visual arts.

I have spent all my life in two worlds – or with two different feelings of longing – in Paraguay and in Germany. It is a life full of changing emotional tensions.
I am an artisan. My work is determined by sensuous materials such as fabrics, clay or wood.
The wooden bears I have used for my Buddy Bear installation have their origin in different Native American ethnic groups and in the popular art of Paraguay. They are produced with various indigenous types of wood, inspired by the fauna of Paraguay.
These small animals are affectionately crawling around on the Buddy Bear who is carrying them into this world.
There are no bears in Paraguay. They live somewhere in a remote distance, thus representing a feeling of longing.
Rolando Rasmussen