Help us bring ‘Paula the Polar Bear’ to Margate this summer to take our Animals & Us exhibition to the streets and get everybody talking about climate change.
We want to take our summer exhibition, Animals & Us, out of the gallery and onto the beach, creating a true spectacle as 'Paula the Polar Bear' roams across Margate sands in the height of the summer season. With Margate's beach as the backdrop, Paula will surprise visitors to Margate and encourage thought-provoking conversations about how humans can co-exist with animals. Professional puppeteers will train local performers to work with Paula throughout the summer and Turner Contemporary Navigators will accompany Paula, breaking the ice with conversation starters about climate change. It will be the first - and possibly last! - time that a polar bear has been seen in Margate.
Because of ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat resulting from climate change, polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the US under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008. Paula the Polar Bear is a life-sized 'puppet'. She has already travelled to Washington DC, Finland and Auckland to raise awareness of environmental issues. Paula the Polar Bear is on loan from Greenpeace UK.
As part of our campaign we have created a range of exciting rewards including exclusive products and experiences. This includes a limited-edition tote bag and print featuring an illustration created exclusively for us by Sprankenstein as well as a puppeteering workshop.
Animals & Us (25 May - 30 September 2018) is a major exhibition exploring artists' reflections on the relationship between humans and other animals. At a time when scientists are warning that humans may be causing the 6th mass extinction on earth, there has been a growth of interest across numerous disciplines in human-animal studies, including amongst contemporary artists. This exhibition is inspired by artists' imaginative, provocative and diverse explorations into our relationships with animals. How do we see other animals and how do we imagine they see us? How do we see ourselves in relation to and as animals, and how have these human-animal relations been reflected in art? Help us get these conversations started outside of the gallery.
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Five reasons to donate today!
We need your help to bring Paula the Polar Bear to Margate this summer... Read more
Thank you for your donations so far!
We have reached over 25% of our target!... Read moreMeet the artist: Sprankenstein
In this update, we speak to Margate artist Sprankenstein who has created the exclusive design for the 'Paula the Polar Bear' tote and limited edition prints... Read more
Animals & Us Q&A with Fiona Parry
Interview with Fiona Parry, curator of our upcoming exhibition Animals & Us... Read moreDeadline extended and donations to be doubled!
Our campaign has been extended for one week and all donations will now be match-funded thanks to a private donor through Art Fund... Read more
Paula is coming to Margate!
We are thrilled to announce that our crowdfunding campaign has reached 115% of its target... Read moreThank you for your support!
The campaign has now closed and thanks to all 292 funders who helped us raised £19,288 – 128% of our target! We could not have done this without you... Read more
Paula is coming to Margate: dates announced!
Thanks to your generous support, Paula the Polar Bear will be roaming the streets of Margate for five weeks on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from Thursday 26th July 2018... Read more
With thanks to...
Jan Mulrenan
William Newland
Anonymous
Jonathan Neame
Dorothee Thyssen
Susan Bones
Wendy Gregory
Gary Cooper
Danielle Sharma
Kathryn Baker
Helen Caddick
Gillian Shakespeare
Sarah Peskett
Susan Roots
Paul Colbeck
Remo Minerva-Crolla
Celine Libera
Brian Rybolt
Katie Pye
Janet Bevan
James Macdowell
Tony Mchale
Ann Watson-Thomas
Antonio Parente
Marilyn Pascoe
Stephen Harrison
Kate Woodford
Janet Williams
Kate Pieroudis
Laura Harbard
Peter Davis
Jennifer Scott
Caroline Alton
Bogumila Jefford
Emrys Plant
Lucie Newman
Melody Bottle
Ellen Hayward
Deborah Allwright
Stephen Almond
Felicity Carlton
Sarah Dance
Tatton Spiller
Margaret Rivers
Janet Crowl
Moya Stirrup
Juliet Challis
Lia Mackinlay
Hilary Spon
John Davies
Nicole Newman
Anonymous
Anonymous
Andrea Cornish
Joanne Balaraj
Irene Brown
Valerie Woodcock
Fiona Parry
Amanda Pilbeam
Diane Wharton
Emma Wilcox
Clare Millett
Wendy Chaplin
Helen Leask
Joanna Murray
Kemet Hawthorne Pink
Peter Kasch
Carolyn Young
James Page
Sue Collins
Mary Collins
Richard Ayton
Sheila Turley
Diana Briscoe
Victoria Pomery
Ema Dennis
Samara Jones-Hall
David Mateer
Helen Witcher
Hannah Jones
Richard Faulkner
Jennifer Chan
Millie Pearce
Medina Ward
Claire Breeds
Karen Scott
Jill Todd
Emma Mcarthur
John Langley
Jenny Moyse
Bryony Botwright-Rance
Amit Nachumi-Burrows
Franca Pauli
H Arlidge
Anonymous
Harriet Hall
Gillian Spoerry
Jilly Sharpe
Kim Thome
Bea Belicza
Elizabeth Barraclough
Tony Witton
Katie Hogben
Tracy Russell
Janet Wells
Shirley Marshall
Sian Ruffles
Mary Berg
Kathleen Gilding
Melissa Gabbott
Richard Wyber
Ann Norton
Carolyn Pitkin
Christine Brandon
Elizabeth Turner
Matthew Mapleston
Steven Butten
Louise Clifford
Katie Millington
Sarah Medway
Cordelia Milward
Michael Tooby
Sarah Wills-Lee
Steve Villette
Diana Wass
Timothy Molloy
Mary Molloy
Dave Chapman
Benedict Faria
Monika Jaeckel
Martin Cook
Derek Medhurst
Anonymous
Laura Denton Brierley
Robert Barrass
Jorge Quintanilla
Jackie Finch
Sandra Elston
Tamsin Dillon
Helen Page
Ros Fraser
Daniel Corn
Gwen Hedley
Tau Jafta
Malvina Watkins
Roberto Fabiani
Joseph Bartram
Lillian Henley
Natasha Bucknor
Raquel Charsley
Hannah Shotton
Stella Wood
Chris Sansom
Derek Aldous
Emma Dain
Charlotte Walshe
Richard Downes
Vivienne Bennett
Cathy Cooper
Margot Leslie
Matthew Shaw
Johnny Parry
Ann Chadwick
Robert Rutter
John Bade
Angela Krzyzanowska
Laura Ford
Ann Daniels
Janice Nicholls
Anonymous
Stephanie Corking
Jude Staples
Alan Jones
John Reid
Vivienne Chapman
Amanda Scrivener
Hannah Dell
Anonymous
Anonymous
Linda Fox
Mark Wright
Janet Pace
Kathleen Drum
Terry Learmouth
Marilyn Wilton
Brigitte Stevens
Jo Reynolds
Jill Constantine
Sally Hunter
Sandra Griggs
Jonathan Denly
Jonathan Goode
C Aldridge
Michael Attenborough
Trevor Meadowcroft
Deborah Heath
Albert Feuillatre
Thomas Mcclean
Ian Cloughton
Anonymous
Sally Pennycate
Stephen Bass
Roland Matthews
Angela Thomas
Kate Boys-Layton
Virginia Fitch
Merrin Kalinowski
Sarah Martin
Clare Robson
Deborah Humm
Helen Cooper
Anthony Shoring
Jean Goode
Dorothea Scott
Kristy Widdicombe
Sylvia Macdowell
Catherine Yates
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Anonymous
Kim Buckingham
Trish Scott
Harriet Davies
Bn Newman
Clare Fox
Pamela Burniston
Xanthe Arvanitakis
Peter Driver
Patricia Pinhorn
Joy Anderson
Mary Pringle
Anonymous
Anonymous