Tomorrow's Tigers
At the beginning of the 20th Century experts estimate there were around 100,000 tigers in the wild. Today, that figure has shrunk to just 3,900 and something needs to be done. We were delighted to learn of Tomorrow's Tigers, an effort by WWF and Artwise to raise money in aid of the global Tx2 goal, which sets out to double tiger numbers by 2022.
With such shocking statistics, there is no doubt that Tomorrow's Tigers is a super-worthy cause and we want to congratulate Artwise for having the courage to try and make a positive impact on global tiger numbers. Working closely with WWF, theLondon-based curatorial collective and ideas studio has commissioned tiger themed art rugs by 10 world-renowned artists and makers, which are being sold in limited runs to raise funds for Tx2.
As soon as we learnt of the initiative, we hot-footed it down to the Tomorrow's Tigers exhibition at Sotheby's to check out the rugs for ourselves. Sadly, the exhibition is now closed, but we were truly blown away by what we saw. Legendary rug maker, Christopher Farr, has crafted the work ofAnish Kapoor,Francesco Clemente, Reena Saini Kallat, Maya Lin, Raqib Shaw, Rose Wylie, Bernard Frize, Gary Hume, Harland Miller and Kiki Smith (what a list!) into beautifully made hand-knotted art rugs; all an exquisite and unique artistic interpretation ofthe fabled Tibetan tiger rug, as well as the splendour of tigers in the wild.
Christopher Farr is truly one of the world's finest rug designers, and together with business partner Matthew Bourne, he has certainly become one of the most sought-after names for any avid rug collector. There is no doubt that Christopher Farr has done justice to the original works of the artists, using his team of master craftsman to hand-spin, hand-dye and hand-knot each piece for a rug of truly exceptional quality. Each work will be available in a limited-run of 10 pieces, signed by the artist.
We're buzzed to have seen these rugs in the 'wild' and we wish WWF, Artwise and Christoper Farr the very best of luck in reaching their £1m goal. If you want to learn more about Tomorrow's Tigers, Artwise and Christopher Farr just head here. You can buy one of course, but for very good reason, you're going to have to dig deep.