Belarus and childhood are associated with each other
The Belarusian animal displayed at a travelling exposition of bears was painted without any real sense by people who did not have a good command of Belarusian. However, the idea came from the heart. The author of the bear – Ihar Yermakou – told ERB about it.
The exposition of bears has been travelling around the world since 2001. It is in Warsaw now. It consists of 138 bears representing UN member states. Each of them has to present national traits of its country, says the manager of the exposition Michael Shtefanesku:
“You see a bear representing a country and it was created by an artist from that country to display his vision of the country, its culture, people and everything they consider to be necessary to display”.
A Belarusian artist Ihar Yermakou wanted to paint the bear in a childlike style.
Іhar Ermakou: “All the bears were designed in some modern style. I wanted it to be a piece of childlike and naive painting because Belarus and childhood are associated with each other”.
However, we noticed mistakes on the Belarusian bear – the word “vodka” was written in Russian. What sense did the painter want to put in every detail of the bear?
Іhar Ermakou: “I did not put any sense in it. Everything came from the heart and that’s it. Mistakes? Children often write something and then correct their mistakes. Vodka… well it means I do not have a good command of Belarusian”.
Mr. Yermakou spent a week painting the bear. Michael Shtefanesku says that almost all painters came to Germany to paint their beast. Then the bears started their trip: Hong-Kong, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seoul, Sidney, Vienna, Cairo and Jerusalem. They are not planning to visit Belarus now, said Michael Shtefanesku in an interview with ERB:
“Besides Stuttgart that is already prepared to welcome us, we will probably visit Buenos-Aires and Paris. We have not received any invitation from Belarus”.
You can see the Belarusian and other bears in Warsaw until June 22.
Photo by http://verasen.livejournal.com/
The exposition of bears has been travelling around the world since 2001. It is in Warsaw now. It consists of 138 bears representing UN member states. Each of them has to present national traits of its country, says the manager of the exposition Michael Shtefanesku:
“You see a bear representing a country and it was created by an artist from that country to display his vision of the country, its culture, people and everything they consider to be necessary to display”.
A Belarusian artist Ihar Yermakou wanted to paint the bear in a childlike style.
Іhar Ermakou: “All the bears were designed in some modern style. I wanted it to be a piece of childlike and naive painting because Belarus and childhood are associated with each other”.
However, we noticed mistakes on the Belarusian bear – the word “vodka” was written in Russian. What sense did the painter want to put in every detail of the bear?
Іhar Ermakou: “I did not put any sense in it. Everything came from the heart and that’s it. Mistakes? Children often write something and then correct their mistakes. Vodka… well it means I do not have a good command of Belarusian”.
Mr. Yermakou spent a week painting the bear. Michael Shtefanesku says that almost all painters came to Germany to paint their beast. Then the bears started their trip: Hong-Kong, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seoul, Sidney, Vienna, Cairo and Jerusalem. They are not planning to visit Belarus now, said Michael Shtefanesku in an interview with ERB:
“Besides Stuttgart that is already prepared to welcome us, we will probably visit Buenos-Aires and Paris. We have not received any invitation from Belarus”.
You can see the Belarusian and other bears in Warsaw until June 22.
Photo by http://verasen.livejournal.com/
