We invite young artists and art collectives to participate in a public call, within the scope of which we are looking for the best painted bear sculpture, which will be part of the international exhibition The United Buddy Bears, The Art of Tolerance.

The Buddy Bear is a Berlin-based initiative that has toured with its exhibition in 34 cities worldwide so far. The sculptures of bears standing side by side in alphabetical order symbolize international mutual understanding and tolerance, cultural diversity and peaceful coexistence. The exhibition consists of 146 individually painted life-size bear sculptures. Each bear was painted by an artist from one of the participating countries, with themes and motifs that reflect their own country's culture, history, people, landscape, economy, music or traditions, but never its political system.

Within the framework of the public call, we want to encourage the creation of an originally painted bear, with which we will give meaning to the values of tolerance, compassion and solidarity in connection with Slovenia and Ljubljana.
The deadline for submitting applications is 10 April 2024. The sculpture is planned to be painted between 23 April and 7 May 2024, and the bear will be presented to the public for the first time at an exhibition that will be on view in Ljubljana this May. The newly painted sculpture will replace the current Slovenian painted bear.

The organiser of the exhibition The United Buddy Bears, The Art of Tolerance in Ljubljana, is the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ljubljana.