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Shaun the Sheep, the popular animated character from Britain, traveled to China recently to take part in the launch of a project that will benefit disadvantaged children in the country.
The project, launched in Beijing last month, is part of a series of programs for the 2015 UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange.
Artists and celebrities from other fields including sports and fashion will be invited to decorate the up to 50 giant sculptures depicting Shaun in different guises.
The sculptures will be taken on a five-city exhibition tour across China from July to October, and then 10 of the statues will be flown to London for further display in October.
After their cultural mission is complete, the sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for two charities that aid children with autism and those from migrant families in and around Beijing.
"One Shaun will be donated to us," says Helen Boyle, founder of Migrant Children's Foundation, one of the organizations.
"We'll take the sculpture to a migrant school in Beijing to encourage them to use their imagination and creativity to paint the sheep."
A competition among children ages 9 and 10 will be held to select the best idea, and the painted Shaun sculptures will be taken back to the sponsors for auction, Boyle says.
A similar art trail, featuring 50 Shaun sculptures designed by British artists, has been on display in London since March 28, and another 70 sculptures will join a two-month exhibition in Bristol, where the sheep's creator, Aardman Animation, is based.
Ciaran Devane, CEO of the British Council, says the project acts as a showcase of art, creativity and social participation. It is particularly fitting in the Chinese Year of the Sheep, he says.
This will be a year to create a lasting legacy in the culture and arts for Britain and China, and will promote mutual understanding and respect between the two countries, Devane says.
With 130 seven-minute episodes in four volumes, Shaun the Sheep has been aired in about 170 countries.
When Britain's Prince William took part in an event in March to dot the eyes for one of the 50 sculptures in Beijing, Shaun got the attention of about 1 billion viewers through Chinese media.
Wang Guoyu, senior general manager with Uyoung, a Chinese media company responsible for Shaun's brand development in China, attributes the popularity to the stop-motion picture series, without dialogue, which makes it easily accessible to audiences in many places.
xufan@chinadaily.com.cn
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Shaun the Sheep sculptures, mostly designed by Chinese celebrities, will tour the country. Xu Fan / China Daily |
(China Daily 05/07/2015 page21)
