At the southern end of the park sits the Falkland War Memorial. Not overtly embellished, the memorial has plaques representing each province of Argentina, a perpetual flame in honor of the fallen soldiers and 2 guards on duty at all times.
Standing directly across from the Falklands Memorial is the Torre de los Ingleses, a clock tower given to the city of Buenos Aires as a gift by its British citizens to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Argentine Independence. After the war between Argentina and Britain, the official name of the tower was changed to Torre Monumental, though most people still refer to it by it's first name. Think Freedom fries.
So, a few months ago, Andre and I went for a very long walk and we ended up at Plaza San Martín only to discover that there was some kind of exhibit going on.
The United Buddy Bear Project is a traveling exhibit that consists of a group of plain white hard plastic bears that were sent to representatives from all countries of the world, who were also instructed to decorate them in a way that was representative of their country and culture, with the intention of producing something unifying as a symbol of peace.
The result of this little experiment was a beautiful and touching expo of international culture and perspective. So, without further ado, I give you Andre's and my favorite selections:
P.S. Some of these bears will have the identifying flag attached, others wont. I did not photograph every single bear at this thing, though towards the end it may begin to feel like i did. A lot of the IDing will be done from memory. Also, to really see the detail that has gone into decorating these bears you may have to click on and enlarge the picture.
First, Andre's favorites:
Cuba
North Korea
Next, My Favorites:
Moldova
Japan
Palestine
Now, Awards.
Most Original Bear:
With Honorable Mention to:
Colombia
Best design for a Bear in a weird / I'm not exactly sure what this has to do with my country, yet appropriate, way:
With Honorable Mention to:
Bolivia
Costa Rica
France
Up next, Best Rihanna Tribute:
Most Amazingly Decorated Bear:
With Shout outs to:
South Korea
Ethiopia
Worst depiction of a large and powerful nation through a Bear:
With Dishonorable mention to:
China (Note the painted on scar above the bear's eye.)
The United States
Most offensive depiction of a country and its culture:
With a Dishonorable mention to:
And, last, but certainly not least, pictures of those bears whose country i don't remember or simply did not fit into the pre-decided categories:
Bhutan
Jordan
Myanmar
Peru
South Africa
Kenya
Egypt
Both Unknown.
Unknown.
