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| V.I.C. Very Important Cow by Paolo Iannetti |
CowParade is the brainchild of Swiss sculptor Pascal Knapp who launched the first parade of life size decorated fibreglass cows in Zurich in 1998. It has since been staged in 50 cities around the globe and has been seen by millions of people. In fact, the official website claims that a staggering 100 million people around the world have seen one of their famous cows and over 5,000 artists have been involved in painting them over the years! Even more importantly CowParade events have raised over $20 million for non-profit organizations worldwide since 1999. In fact, at the close of the Rome CowParade there will be a charity auction at Sotheby’s with proceeds of the sale of thirty of the cows going to the Ageing Society.
The cow sculptures are to be found grazing along the main streets and squares of the city – I ran into a couple of cows along Via Cola di Rienzo at the weekend, where they were clearly attracting a lot of curious attention from Sunday shoppers, and again yesterday in Piazza Barberini, where they were surrounded by nearly as many admirers as Bernini's Triton Fountain!
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