The legend about Perm bear(Пермский край)
It's not a secret that every town has got its own symbol, it may be a person or an animal, or whatever. Perm is not an exception. A bear has got a symbolizing function. A bear, as a symbol, is familiar for every citizen. It is situated on the coats of arms of the city and the region. That was the reason for constructing the monument that would symbolize the city for a foreigner (as many of them believe that bears have a habit of walking on the Perm streets). To underline this idea the sculptor made not just a still bear but a walking one. Thus, we face the legend of the Perm Bear. The monument is situated in the centre of the city, at the Lenin Street, in front of The Organ Concert Hall and by the building of Legislative Assembly of Permski Krai. The author of the monument is Vladimir Pavlenko, a monumentalist sculptor from Nizhny Tagil, a member of Artists' Union of Russia and UNESCO International Association of Arts. The monument is made of synthetic stone and occupies an area about 3.5 m2. The ceremony of opening the sculpture took place on September 11, 2006. The ceremony was attended by the representatives of the sculptors' fund "Yedineniye" and the programme 'Perm is a cultural capital of the Ural', the human rights representative of Permskiy Krai, and honored citizens of Perm. Nowadays the bear is a very popular 'citizen' of Perm. Children and adults have immediately fallen in love with the monument. In 2007, as the building of Legislative Assembly of Permskiy Krai was under repair, the sculpture was temporarily removed. On June 12, when the improvement of the area was finished, it was returned to the former location.
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