The Giving Bear reminds us to paws for thought in these dark, grizzly months…
With all that’s going on at the busiest time of year, it’s easy to get caught up in the madness of work nights out, festive markets, and lots and lots of Christmas shopping. While there’s nothing wrong with having fun during the festivities, this new London sculpture serves as a little reminder of some of the other things we should be thinking about…
The Giving Bear is London’s latest sculpture, bringing Christmas light to Mayfair’s Mount Street Gardens. This beautiful green polar was created by Kingston University students in collaboration with Veolia, New West End Company and Westminster City Council. The coolest part is that the life-size sculpture was created using over 3,000 reused plastic milk bottles, serving as a reminder of climate change and waste consumption over the holidays.
The 2nd year Kingston School of Art’s Creative Industries have developed an engaging narrative about the bear’s journey, incorporating themes of environmental awareness and vulnerability into their design. Using upcycled wood and all of those plastic milk bottles, they’ve turned the story into a stunning reality.
The Giving Bear symbolises not only climate change, but homelessness, illustrating the story of a polar bear who loses his home as a result of climate change. Finding himself homeless in London’s Mount Street Gardens, he encounters unexpected kindness through a small gift that reminds him of home. We really thought we’d had enough emotional breakdowns over fictional animals this Christmas, but this wholesome tale is definitely on par with Edgar the dragon…
The Giving Bear installation really does hope to inspire change in London. Beside the installation is a tap donation point, where you can use the fixed £3 tap to give a gift to the Hidden Network – a group of charities who work with Westminster City Council to end rough sleeping in London.
Whilst we’re all for enjoying ourselves at Christmas, and seeing all the amazing displays London has to offer, we definitely recommend sparing a minute to go and visit The Giving Bear at some point over the holidays. It’s a chance to admire stunning artwork, do your bit for climate change, contribute to helping those less fortunate, and remind yourself of the biggest gift that can be given at Christmas – kindness!