by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Thousands of adorable papier-mâché pandas are invading South Korea, but the reason behind their visit is a bit heartbreaking.
French sculptor Paulo Grangeon first began the panda project back in 2008. The World Wildlife Fund had invited the artist to handcraft 1,600 papier-mâché panda bears to represent the 1,600 real pandas left in the world, hoping to raise public awareness of the wildlife conservation.
Since then, the 1,600 Pandas+ project has toured around the globe, with over a thousand miniature pandas displayed in open public spaces in Italy, Switzerland, France, Hong Kong and more.
This year, Lotte Department Store and Lotte World Mall partnered with Grangeon to create a new tour called “1,800 Pandas+,” which will serve as a symbolic reminder on the importance of protecting endangered wild species. The new tour is essentially a continuation of 1,600 Pandas+ and represents the 200 increase in the population of wild giant pandas since 2008.
The main exhibition of 1,800 paper pandas is scheduled to be displayed in the garden area near Seokchon Lake in Seoul from July 4 through July 30.
If you can’t wait that long for pandas, then don’t worry. Much like a flashmob, a traveling pack of paper pandas are set to pop up in various cities and national landmarks across South Korea. They’ve already made appearances at Jeju Island, Seoul Plaza, Gangnam Station and Dongdaemun Plaza.
Check out the photos below:
https://instagram.com/p/3YrvlBGnUX/
https://instagram.com/p/3FujizGnem
https://instagram.com/p/250vOXmnZe/
https://instagram.com/p/2xdZFRGnQ4/
https://instagram.com/p/3N97k-GnU7/
https://instagram.com/p/3TfvVBGnUf
https://instagram.com/p/3It7_-mnQr/
https://instagram.com/p/3Fu6gCGnfY/
https://instagram.com/p/3bSgz4Gnfp/
https://instagram.com/p/3Z4j8kmnf5/
The next panda flash mob is scheduled to appear at Cheogna Lake Park, according to South Korea’s official 1,600 Pandas+ Instagram.
You can view the current panda tour schedule below:
https://instagram.com/p/3bg__nGnU4/
To learn more about the 1,800 Pandas+ in South Korea, visit the official tour site.
See Also
“Ho Yoon Shin Creates ‘Empty’ Sculptures Out of Paper”
“Keun Young Park Creates Stunning Mosaics Out Of Tiny Bits Of Paper”
“Soo Min Kim Transforms Starbucks Paper Cups Into Art”
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Photos via Visit Korea
