A thousand giant panda sculptures and 10 special-edition bears have been sold in Hong Kong for HK$923,700 (US$118,800) in an auction, with the organiser donating all proceeds to Ocean Park to fund conservation efforts.
The 1,000 sculptures were among 2,500 displayed by local art studio AllRightsReserved as part of its “Panda Go! Fest HK” pop-up exhibition on Monday, with small ones going at HK$350 and large ones at HK$550.
AllRightsReserved said the 1,000 sculptures were snapped up in just over an hour – more quickly than expected – and raised HK$518,300.
An auction of another 10 special-edition bears by 10 designers took place last Friday, and raised a total of HK$405,400, with each artwork going for HK$3,000.
“Molly Panda” by renowned local artist Kenny Wong went for HK$102,800, the highest amount, followed by “Monster Panda” by Kasing Lung, which sold for HK$82,000. Lung is the creator of the popular Labubu doll.
“Aura Bearer”, by American musician and fashion designer Pharrell Williams, was auctioned for HK$60,000.