Buddy Bear the Matobo Ambassador to be unveiled
The German Embassy in Harare has announced of the upcoming “Unveiling of the Buddy Bear,” which has been organized in partnership with the initiative “My Beautiful Home,” and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo where it will take place on Friday, January 20 2023.
The Buddy Bear, a 2-meter-tall fiberglass bear sculpture, is also known as “Berlin Bear” since it is the emblem of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The German Foreign Ministry launched the “Buddy Bear” Campaign more than 20 years ago, making the Buddy Bears well-known as representatives of a liberal and cosmopolitan Germany.
The event will include performances by Nobuntu, the choir “Sound of Joy Chorale,” and Asante Mo in order to celebrate Ndebele culture in a broader sense.
Along with the Buddy Bear, a variety of clay pots will be on display. The clay pots are artworks of 20 female artists who gathered at the National Gallery at the request of the German Embassy. They decorated pots with vibrant patterns while participating in a creative class. Following the exhibition, the pots will be sold. To assist the business become sustainable, some of the profits will be used to buy more pots for more female artists.
After the showcase, the Buddy Bear will travel home to Harare to take its place at the German Embassy. It will be an ambassador of the women artists of the Matobo region and the cultural diversity of Zimbabwe.
So far bear sculptures have been erected in front of more than 100 German embassies and ambassador’s residences. Local artists had been invited to propose designs that mirror the friendly relations between Germany and the host countries. The raised arms of the Buddy Bear are an expression of a friendly attitude and of optimism.
The German Embassy contacted the organizers of the annual competition to revive the art of decorating rural homesteads within Matobo, UNESCO World Heritage site just outside of Bulawayo. This initiative was supported by the organization Ekhaya Gaia, the Amagugu Cultural and Heritage Center as well as the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
In order to contribute to the preservation and greater visibility of the magnificient Ndebele art form of hut painting, the German Embassy invited women artists of Matobo to transfer their amazing designs onto the shape of the bear. Various women from the Matobo region were invited to a workshop at the National Gallery early last year to experiment with brush and acrylic paint after which a number of drafts were submitted. The four designs by Lackina Zulu, Portia Ndlovu, Khumbulani Ncube and Kathazile Mlala were selected to decorate the Buddy Bear assisting artist Talent Kapadza in using the correct forms and colours.