Bear in mind

Fifty-five PVC teddy bears that have been decorated by leading artists and designers in Dubai are in a pop-up exhibition in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. The bears, each 38 centimetres tall, were handed out to the artistic community two months ago thanks to an initiative by the Lebanese photographer Clara Gebran and Karim El Andary, an events organiser. The artists, fashion designers, advertising agencies and other creative people were given the freedom to do as they wished with the white bears and were encouraged to use them as blank canvases for their ideas.
A bear-ied selection
The Emirati Asma Belhamar, who is an illustrator and graphic designer, fashioned her bear to resemble an oud with a fretboard emerging from its head and strings traversing the body down to the feet. The fashion designer Zayan Ghandour, the owner of S*uce boutique, dressed her bear in a pink tutu with a bridal veil.
Negin Fattahi-Dasmal, who founded the successful beauty business The Grooming Company, covered her bear in 20,200 Swarovski crystals and the photographer Peter Richweisz, from Desert Fish Studios, placed his bear in a kind of cryogenic chamber being fed by an oxygen tube that is reminiscent of The Matrix – where humans are used as batteries to fuel a world ruled by machines. Havas Worldwide Middle East, an advertising agency, fashioned its bear to look like a golden shisha pipe.
Bear 2020
The artists were asked to design the bears under the theme of the Dubai Expo 2020 bid and as such, the name of the show is Bear PVC Show Tour Dubai 2020. It is, however, the second in a series of exhibitions Gebran is planning for the region.
"The bear is a way of promoting Middle Eastern and Arab talents through a new medium of expression. Our objective is to travel to five cities in the region."
In March, the first edition took place in Ginette Concept Store in Beirut with just 15 bears. After Dubai, where the bears will be on show in XVA Gallery in Al Fahidi Neighbourhood, they will go to Istanbul. The last two locations are yet to be confirmed.
Bear brained
The idea came during a trip Gebran and El Andary made to New York last summer when they saw bears decorated in many different styles. Determined to find out about the origin of the bear, they ended up travelling to Hong Kong and placing a bulk order. The final concept is to distribute 500 bears to creative people across the Middle East and to collate their images into a book. The pair have selected artists, photographers, designers and advertising agencies in an effort to promote the length and breadth of regional talent.
"We are artists ourselves and collectors and we wanted to do something to explore countries and art through the bear. People will know more about our region's creativity through the bear. At the end of the tour, we hope also to make a final show of the best pieces," says Gebran.
• Bear PVC Show Tour Dubai 2020 is in XVA Gallery, Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood (formerly known as Bastakiya), Dubai, on November 14
 
aseaman@thenational.ae
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