Since 2002, United Buddy Bears have been travelling the world, promoting tolerance and understanding between people, cultures and religions.

“The Buddy Bear Exhibition is a quite high-profile project, where almost every country in the world has actually painted its own Buddy Bear and sent all these buddy bears on a joint tour of the world,” explains Peter Neven, Counsellor at the German Embassy in Nicosia.

Following a call to local visual artists to submit a proposal for the design of the Cyprus Buddy Bear, Neven added: “We thought it was high time that Cyprus had its own bicommunal, so to speak, united Cyprus Buddy Bear.

“There is already a Cypriot Buddy Bear, which was commissioned by the Cypriot embassy in Berlin and painted by a Cypriot artist… This buddy bear is travelling around the world, but it’s not in Cyprus and it is only a ‘Republic of Cyprus Buddy Bear’.”

Proposals are welcome from bicommunal artist teams with at least one artist from each side of the divide.

The current call for a United Cyprus Buddy Bear by the German Embassy in Cyprus and the Goethe-Institut aims at pinpointing the philosophy behind the project as well as bringing artists together for a common vision.

“The philosophy behind this project is that the main work is already done by this call for tender.
“We’re asking bi-communal artistic teams to present a joint programme; we’re not talking about each artist, from each side of the divide to paint half a bear, we’re talking about two artists from both sides to design a common project…

“We give an incentive for artists to meet, to discuss, to come up with a joint vision and present that to us.

“This could be achieved through individuals or teams, there are no limits but it has to be bicommunal,” adds Neven.

Admittedly, the bear (in this case a sculpture in the form of a bear with raised arms spreading a friendly attitude and optimism) is a symbol for Berlin – a city that was divided for over 28 years.

“This allegory of a formerly-divided city having overcome division is an art project that should no longer be missing in Cyprus where division still is a reality for the people.

“Being a crystalising point and Europe’s last divided capital, the bear should emblemise the future vision of Nicosia and Cyprus,” states the call for proposals.

Director of the Goethe Institut in Nicosia, Dr Christiane Kramer-Hus-Hus who took the reins from Bjorn Luley almost a year ago has equally embraced the project, the likes of which will be presented at the premises of the Goethe Institut, within the Buffer Zone.

“I think Cyprus is a very rich country in culture and heritage and I think there is a very lively cultural scene going on… I think that the Goethe Institut being located in the Buffer Zone has a certain legacy for bi-communal work,” reveals Kramer-Hus-Hus.

“We collaborated with the Goethe Institut because they have artistic knowledge which we, unfortunately, lack at the embassy, and they are also located in the Buffer Zone, so it’s an ideal place for artists from both sides to come together and meet, work there, paint there and also set it up there initially at the Ledra Palace crossing. People moving from one side to the other will see the Buddy Bear and then have it travel to other emblematic locations within Nicosia or even other cities in Cyprus,” adds Neven.
“There is obviously a clear-cut German dimension to the project; the Buddy Bear has become a symbol for Germany.

“Originally the bear is already in the Crown of Arms of the city of Berlin, but this sculpture of the buddy bear has achieved such a status and is a known trademark associated with the city of Berlin…
“That’s another reason why we thought it was a particularly fitting project for Nicosia because Berlin also used to be a divided capital; they have overcome division and we want to see that allegory represented in the project, hoping to contribute in a way to overcoming the division here,” envisions Neven.

“From our experience of unifying a country, of course the situation was slightly different and some aspects are very different to the situation here, but still, there are some parallels that can be drawn and experiences that can be made available for the Cyprus people and the peace process… there are some mistakes which should better be avoided,” he adds.