Woman in red dress and giraf, Berenkuil, Maastricht, Netherlands - Figurative Public Sculpture on Waymarking.com

The old bear pit.

The last bear that lived here was named Jo and was transferred to a zoo in 1993. The artist Michael Huisman was allowed to create a work to fill the empty bear pit. He did this by placing small bronze statues of extinct animal species on the floor of the pit. But no bear. Huisman put instead the statue of a woman comforting a dying giraffe in the prime position. He also placed a small children's carousel in the park some meters away from the bear pit. When the carousel is spun, the woman's arm moves to pet and comfort the giraffe. The woman's clothing is exchanged to periodically update the view.
Meanwhile a bronze image of Jo the bear was seated on a parkbench nearby.

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Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Halfautomatische Troostmachine Figure Type: Combination of two figure types Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Michel Huisman Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: 2001 Materials used: metal Location: Stadspark Maastricht

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/03/2022 giacaches visited it