UK BLOG

It's Pandamonium at Selfridges this month: the London department store is hosting an exhibition featuring the work of some of the UK's leading artists and over 120 pandas. Don’t worry — they’re plastic.

The World Wildlife Fund's charity-box pandas were taken out of active service in 2007, having stood faithfully at their posts on the nation’s high streets for over 30 years. Their imploring eyes and air of Zen-like calm made for natural collectors' items. So it took only a small lateral step (founder Sir Peter Scott was, among other things, a painter of some renown) for WWF to realise that these iconic cuties were art forms in the making. WWF teamed up with Artwise curators and next thing you know Peter Blake, Tracey Emin, Sir Paul Smith, Rachel Whiteread, Tom Dixon and Gavin Turk et al had all agreed to work their magic. The result is 16 striking — some gilded, some glass, some... well you decide — panda installations, on show in Selfridges' concept store until 28 October.

And if you're worried you didn't donate enough pennies the first time round, the artworks are going to be auctioned at an event on October 12, with all proceeds going to WWF.

For more information see: selfridges.com or wwf.org.uk