Figures

The miniature painting of the tin figure by the artist Suzanne Piévadent. You can admire all the masterpieces in the gallery.

A thousand small tin monuments for the last thousand mountain gorillas

One thousand - that's roughly the number of the world's last living mountain gorillas. A thousand small monuments from tin are to be dedicated to the legendary silverback Ruhondeza on the 10th anniversary of his death on the initiative of the Moon Mountains project in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute, the Ugandan NGO Conservation through Public Health and the Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe association with the campaign "GORILLAS our friends FOREVER".

Supported by partner companies in the graphic arts industry and the publisher of cultural-historical tin figurines bellazinnfigur, two noble and sustainable natural products, an artistic group of tin figurines in high-quality packaging, were combined to form a symbiosis of two crafts, tin casting and the art of papermaking.

Various craft artists were involved in the creation of the Eco-Box and the figure. With the campaign, the initiators also want to draw attention to the connection between species conservation and the preservation of expertise in traditional craft techniques in the spirit of the "UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage".

The tin figure illustrated by the artist Sascha Lunyakov and engraved in slate by the master engraver Regina Sonntag depicts the silverback Ruhondeza with his mountain gorilla family in the tropical rainforest of Bwindi in southwestern Uganda. In the background of a diorama integrated into the box, a photo collage shows the landscape with its ancient tree stands.

Funds flow directly into the projects

The box is intended to organise proceeds and donations worldwide. All elements of the box were not only made from recyclable material but also produced climate neutrally and conflict-free in Germany.

The proceeds and donations flow directly into environmental, nature conservation and species protection projects. The aim is to help local people protect the gorillas and preserve nature. The campaign focuses on two specific projects.

Building a sustainable tree network

Together with the "Moon Mountain Tree Network" and the communities around the Bwindi forest, fast-growing conifers, fruit trees and indigenous tree species are planted on a large scale together with many other crops such as beans, potatoes, mangoes or bananas. This protects the rainforest from deforestation, provides fruit, wood for house construction and furniture, and in the long term creates work and sources of income for the families so that their children can go to school and feed themselves well. The campaign promotes people's education as the best foundation for long-term species conservation.

Water tanks for the communities

Access to water is also a major problem for the people around Bwindi, which will be exacerbated by climate change in the future. Women and girls travel long distances to carry water home in heavy jerry cans. The campaign aims to finance 1,500 litre tanks for local communities to store water during the rainy seasons. This improves the supply of the population and relieves the burden on women and girls in particular.

Helping people - protecting gorillas - preserving nature

Miniature painters from all over the world, have coloured the tin figurine group depicting the silverback Ruhondeza with his mountain gorilla family in the Bwindi Rainforest and made it available for the GORILLAS our friends FOREVER campaign. Each of these small works of art is unique. Interested parties can purchase individual figures for € 85.50 plus shipping costs from bellazinnfigur.

You can marvel at all the masterpieces in the miniature painters' gallery.

Simply write a short e-mail to dieter@beller.info and tell us which figurine you would like to purchase, or order directly in the shop.

100 per cent of the proceeds from the sale of these miniature masterpieces will go to the aid projects of the GORILLAS our friends FOREVER campaign.