The Buddy Bear World Tour

21 May

The United Buddy Bears, after starting life in Berlin, and travelling through Istanbul, Vienna, Sydney, Seoul and a few other destinations in Europe and Asia, have finally arrived in Montevideo. Who thought it would have taken so long?

Supposedly representing the 134 countries of the United Nations, they cunningly represent as many countries as are in the United Nations. This means there is no British or English entry unfortunately, as I really wanted to see what we might have produced, especially considering some of the bears on show. Now most countries tried to capture a little bit of their culture, using traditional colours or items of clothing, and highlighting some of the art forms that they are most renowned for. Hence, the African bears are extremely colourful with images of animals and shamans, while the Japan and Korea are very simple using just white and red, with some text. Here are some examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slaterino/3558170808/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/slaterino/3558180958/

But, the reason I wanted to post this really was because although a lot of thought seems to have gone into designing these bears, there are just a few countries who really don’t seem to have given a shit. The Irish being a case in point:

The Irish submission

The Cubans also, though there’s does seem a bit more creative somehow:

The Cuban representative

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