Teddy B’s Exhibition
there's my painting to the left, to be auctioned off for charity. and in the center is teddy b in full kuwaiti kit
I went to the highly anticipated (well, I was excited!) Teddy B exhibition last night at the Sultan Gallery. As expected, the gallery was swarming with Kuwait’s haves, have-nots, and would-probably-like-to-have-a-little-bit-mores. I’m not going to go into the noble little stories of Teddy, you can find those here. But I will talk about the exhibition and his mom/companion/alter-ego/creator Aseel AlYagoub’s admirable attention to detail. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Sultan Gallery but it’s basically a rectangular hall (a converted warehouse is more accurate). On either side of the gallery, Aseel had stuck up a photo of every single day of the life of Teddy. In the center of the gallery is a table displaying Teddy media reports, Teddy merchandise, and a massive Teddy B. coffee table book. I recommend the book because you can’t see the photos all in one go. And even if you do, you’re going to want to see them again, chew on them and mull them over in your head. The pictures are poignant and funny. And when you think you’ve seen Teddy in every single location a stuffed bear can visit, and that you can think of no other possible way to relate with him, you’re hit with a photo that takes you to that special ice-cream place in Salmiya where you shared a home-made caramel scoop with a special friend. I have to say, I fell in love with Teddy B…I mean Aseel…I mean Teddy.
The exhibition is open for just one more night.
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- teddy visited my studio on day 137 of his adventure. in the photo you can see the actual teddy b painting in its infant stages
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- zainab listening to one of the slideshows located at various spots of the gallery, yousef reading photo by photo
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- there’s my painting to the left, to be auctioned off for charity. and in the center is teddy b in his kuwaiti kit
I was there too. In disguise though, so you probably didn’t recognise me. I think through Teddy B. Aseel has created a remarkable record of Kuwait as we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century. There’s a lot of social commentary in many of her images – some obvious, some one is required to look a little harder to spot. Brilliant.
Thank you Ghadah for you sweet review! And I have to say your painting was a hit. There’s a show down right now on who wants it and we’re going to settle that battle over the weekend. I wanted to thank you again for contributing and I’ll update you on the new owner so you can add him to your homes archive!
And thanks Cooper!
hooray!
i was going through the teddy b book with a friend yesterday. there’s just so much there. you must have been exhausted by the end of it. every single day.
will the book be available now that the show is down? or any of the other merchandise? my daughter loves her little graphic black and white teddy b plushie :)