A Buddy Bear is an individually painted, life-size fibreglass bear sculpture. Other fibreglass animals were created in the past: Pioneers were Zurich, Chicago and New York with their CowParade. Also, other cities have put on similar exhibitions, such as Hamburg, which has decorated water carriers around the city, and Toronto, Ontario with Moose in the City.
There have already been exhibitions of the original Buddy Bears - designed by local artists - in the cities of Shanghai (2004), Buenos Aires (2005) and St. Gallen / Switzerland (2006).
The United Buddy Bears are an international art exhibition with more than 140 two metre tall fibreglass bears. Under the motto: We have to get to know each other better, it makes us understand one another better, trust each other more, and live together more peacefully more than 140 countries acknowledged by the United Nations are represented, promoting tolerance, international understanding and the great concept of different nations and cultures living in peace and harmony. The bears stand hand in hand in a peaceful circle.
One important prerequisite for this international unifying project is to choose artists from the individual countries - for the circle to reflect the diversity of the cultures of one world. The observer learns about the culture, the history, the people and the landscape of the individual countries - large or small. Hence the United Buddy Bears circle has become a platform for even the smallest and poorest countries which frequently remain unnoticed. Suddenly, they are equal to larger and often rich nations.
The bears were on display between June and November 2002, in a circle around the Brandenburg Gate. Around 1.5 million people visited this first exhibition.
After the circle of "United Buddy Bears" had been such an overwhelming success in 2002, a new circle was created in 2003. The idea was to send the circle on a global tour.
On their global tour, the "United Buddy Bears" promote peace, love, tolerance and international understanding. The circle changes every time it reaches a new city. This is not only due to the local conditions, but also to their constantly changing order, as the bears are always set up in alphabetic order, following the local language of the host country. This always leads to new and sometimes politically very interesting proximities.
Entry to the exhibitions is always free. This makes it possible for many school classes to visit the exhibitions in the morning - as part of their lessons - to explore and learn a lot about the culture, history, landscape, economy and music of all five continents in a playful manner.
Stations since 2004:
Kitzbuehel, Austria (2004), Hong Kong - Victoria Park (2004), Istanbul - Beyoglu (2004), Tokyo - Roppongi Hills (2005), Seoul - Olympic Park (2005), Sydney - Opera (2006), Berlin - Bebelplatz (2006), Vienna - Karlsplatz (2006), Cairo - Zamalek (2007), Jerusalem - Safra Square (2007), Warsaw - Castle Square (2008), Stuttgart - Schlossplatz (2008), Pyongyang - Youth Park (2008).
In every metropolis, the United Buddy Bears exhibitions are supported by the government, the foreign ministries, the mayors and the UNICEF organisations.
Heads of state - for example the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, the German Federal President, Horst Köhler and First Lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak as well as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors such as Sir Peter Ustinov , Jackie Chan, Christiane Hörbiger, Mia Farrow, Iris Berben and Ken Done have opened these exhibitions all over the world.
During past exhibitions more than 20 million visitors have already admired the colourful United Buddy Bears.
Since 2002, many artists have been able to come to Berlin thanks to the support of the two largest German airlines and the Hotel Association Berlin-Brandenburg. Many of these artists have not only designed a 2 metre tall bear, but also a smaller bear (1 metre) on behalf of their individual countries.
In the autumn of 2003, the circle of United Buddy Bears-The Minis - was presented in Berlin for the first time. Since then, this circle has been shown in Frankfurt/Main, in Potsdam and at the Sony Center in Berlin - to name just a few locations.
Buddy Bear activities and help for children in need have formed an inseparable unit. New United Buddy Bears are often designed to replace the previous unique sculpture of a particular country. Many countries are already represented with the third or fourth bear. The previous bears designed on behalf of the respective countries are generally sold at auctions.
A total of USD 2,400,000 (as per July 2008) has so far been generated through donations and selling Buddy Bears at auction in aid of UNICEF and local organisations helping children in need.
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