Paulo Grangeon Visits Taiwan to Meet National Treasures & Tailor 200 “Paper Black Bears”

▲Paulo Grangeon personally came to Taiwan to gather reference material on the appearance of the Formosan black bear. (Photo / Provided by Taipei City Government)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

“Pandas World Tour ~ Taipei” is scheduled to be exhibited at Taipei Expo Park in March 2014. In addition to featuring 1,600 paper pandas on display, the event will also incorporate 200 Formosan black bears, not only responding to local culture but also calling on the public to pay attention to animal conservation issues.

The artist behind the paper pandas and paper Formosan black bears, Paulo Grangeon, specially came from France to Taiwan to closely observe the national treasure “Formosan black bear” in order to better understand its color and physique for his artwork.

%囊帐跫倚aulo Grangeon with a paper-carved Formosan black bear. (Photo / Provided by Taipei City Government)

Paulo Grangeon stated that while creating the paper-carved Formosan black bears using photos, he noticed that aside from the distinctive white fur on their chests, the bears were entirely black. As a result, he decided to come to Taiwan in person to capture the true essence of the Formosan black bear. After meeting “Black Sugar,” one of the bears, Paulo Grangeon happily immersed himself in the creation of the paper-carved bears, aiming to present the most authentic and natural appearance of the Formosan black bears in the event.

Taipei City Government stated that by including a formation of paper-carved “Formosan black bears” in the “Panda Installation Art Exhibition,” they hope to give this creative installation art event more significance in terms of conservation and education, as well as to contribute to the protection of Taiwan’s wildlife.