Panda Invasion!

Seoul gets some pretty damn adorable art installations. (See Rubber Duck!) Just another reason to love this city.

The latest installation that has captured the hearts of girls all over Korea is 1600 Pandas+. The name says it all, really, the exhibit is 1600+ paper mache pandas that have been on a world tour for seven years. The pandas actual number 1800 and there’s a good reason for that. The installation’s main objective when it was created in 2008 was to bring awareness to the fact that there were only 1600 pandas living in the wild and in danger of becoming extinct. But the number has grown because of more eco-awareness. So yeah, it’s the most adorable invasion ever, but the message is working. That’s a pretty amazing thing in and of itself.

<1600 PANDAS+> is a collaboration which began in 2008 between WWF-France and artist Paulo Grangeon, who handcrafted 1600 pandas — the number of existing pandas left in the wild — with recycled materials to make papier-mâché sculptures. The title “1600 PANDAS+” refers not only to the increase in the population of wild giant pandas to over 1,800 in the past decade, but also to increased public awareness of wildlife conservation. After ruling nearly 100 exhibitions around the world, the pandas will land in Korea for the first time to promote the city’s creative industry by fostering a sustainable environment where humans and nature can successfully coexist. ~www.1600panda.kr

The exhibit will be in Seoul through July 31st and is now in it’s last spot, at Jamsil Station at the Lotte World Mall Garden.

If you need some pandas in your life, go see them before they invade their next country!