Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project
Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project

Video: Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project

Video: Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project
Video: tptalks17: Stéphane Elbaz - YouTube 2024, November
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Pandas on Tour by Paulo Grangeon
Pandas on Tour by Paulo Grangeon

French sculptor Paulo Grangeon shows the world what danger pandas really are in. His mobile exhibition Pandas on Tour features 1,600 papier-mâché pandas. Approximately one figurine for every real panda that now lives on our planet (according to the latest estimates, this number is even slightly less - 1596).

Grangeon started the company in 2008 with the support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The project has already visited more than 20 countries, choosing world famous places for stops, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This June, the teddy bears will travel to Hong Kong for the first time to visit the National Airport and Tiantan Buddha, a famous statue on Lantau Island.

1600 pandas are made of papier-mâché
1600 pandas are made of papier-mâché

Because pandas are so elusive in the wild, it's hard to say exactly how many are left. But it is well known that they reproduce very poorly in captivity. Moreover, their natural habitats are gradually disappearing due to global warming and anthropogenic factors.

According to the latest estimates, this number is even slightly less - 1596 pandas
According to the latest estimates, this number is even slightly less - 1596 pandas

At the same time, in terms of the degree of universal adoration, pandas are only slightly inferior to cats. Some researchers even believe that humans are biologically programmed to love pandas, in part because of their "eyeliner" eyes, which appear very large, and their pseudo thumb (actually an enlarged wrist bone) that resemble human babies.

Pandas on tour
Pandas on tour

Of course, the cuteness of pandas automatically becomes one of the arguments in the struggle to preserve the species, but there are also more pragmatic reasons to worry about the problem. In addition to the obvious need to preserve the ecosystem, this is, for example, the fact that Chinese scientists recently discovered a peptide in the blood of pandas that could be used to develop a "super cure" for humans.

Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project
Pandas on Tour: WWF and Paulo Grangeon's mobile project

In addition, these funny, soft and awkward black and white bears are often used as models for artists and designers. Thus, one of the modern adherents of the national Chinese painting Guohua, the artist Luo Renlin, dedicated a huge layer of his work to the pandas.

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