Berd Bears animated series unveiled!

After many months of development, BWRCF is proud to announce the unveiling of Berd Bears,

 an animated TV series for Armenian children, based on our Berd Bear handicraft produced by our local craftswomen in the town of Berd.

The project is an initiative between our partner Homeland Handicrafts and KASSart Studio. After visiting Berd in early 2011, the Founder of Homeland Handicrafts, Timothy Straight, was so inspired that he contacted KASSart studio with the idea to create a children's television series based on the Berd Bear and the town of Berd. The theme of the series will be to raise environmental awareness for both children and adults. 

The series was unveiled at the ReAnimania Film Festival in Yerevan on Friday, September 16th at the Moscow Theater in Yerevan. In addition to a preview of the series, there was a Q&A session with Vrej Kassouny of KASSart Studio and Timothy Straight of Homeland Handicrafts. BWRCF was excited to see such an amazing turnout as it was standing-room only in the theater!

You can watch a teaser of the television series here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-2n63_vw_0

Timothy Straight & Vrej Kassouny, with Agrav the Crow one the characters from the show

 Seda, Handicrafts Project Manager, along with Anahit, Executive Director, and Tamara, Assistant to the Handicrafts Project, proudly displaying the Berd Bears poster outside of the Moscow Theater

Most exciting of all, BWRCF is excited to unveil the Berd Bears characters and announce they are now for sale! Each product was hand-sewn by one of the talented craftswomen of Berd, bringing to life the characters from the screen with each careful stitch.

Introducing: Archo the Bear, Arsho the Bear, Kar-Kar the Crow, Meghu the Bee and Titer the Butterfly

Contact our partner at Homeland Handicrafts to find out about how you can bring one of these characters home.

To read more about the exciting unveiling of this program, ArmeniaDiaspora.com has written a great article entitled "New Animated Children’s TV Series Hopes to Raise Environmental Awareness in Armenia" and you can read it online here: http://www.armeniadiaspora.com/news/5079-new-animated-childrens-tv-series-hopes-to-raise-environmental-awareness-in-armenia.html

BWRCF is extremely grateful for all the hard work of our partners at Homeland Handicrafts and KASSart Studio. We are excited for the future of this program which will continue to support the hardworking women on Berd. 

Berd Bears now available at the Marriott in Yerevan!

Visiting Yerevan during the month of September? Come see our products for sale at the Marriott Promenade in Republic Square!

In conjunction with our partner Homeland Handicrafts and the Yerevan Zoo, BWRCF is excited to announce the opportunity to buy a Berd Bear and other Bear accessories at the Marriott promenade. Not only will you be employing the women of the Berd community, but an additional portion of the proceeds will benefit the Yerevan Zoo.

Don't wait! The store is open everyday from 12pm - 8pm until September 30th.

Many thanks to Homeland Handicrafts and the Yerevan Zoo for their partnership.