A Canadian woman’s stuffed teddy bear creation has made its way to an exhibit at Paris’ prestigious Louvre Museum.
Quebec engineer Maggy-Nadyne Lamarche’s Béké-Bobo cereal-stuffed bear is currently included in the My Teddy Bear exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in the Palais du Louvre.
“It’s the highlight of my career to see my products become an art object,” she told Global News.
Lamarche says she had the idea to create her therapeutic stuffed animal Béké-Bobo — a French language play on the words kiss and small injury — over two decades ago.
“The stuffing inside the bear is a patented secret,” Lamarche said, divulging only that it’s full of Canadian-made cereal.
Her bears produce humidity and aromas that she says soothe young children, and the proof is that they have sold to hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
Her labour of love was created when she was looking for a way to soothe her constantly agitated sick baby 25 years ago.
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“It takes about 30 seconds, and the baby will be more calm.”
Lamarche said she researched natural products that could help, and discovered a unique mixture of cereal, when warm, could relieve a child’s stomach, tooth and ear aches.
Initially, Lamarche sold the small stuffed bears only to friends, but her small business picked up and her Canadian-made product sells around the globe.
She says when the Louvre emailed her last year about including her product in their show, she thought it was a joke.
“But when I finally saw the bear on display, I felt stunned. I was very proud.”
The museum describes the exhibition as the descent of the “the undisputed king of toys,” the teddy bear, on to the Louvre to tell his incredible historic story.
The show will look at the history of the stuffed toy and how it earned its place in the hearts of children, “dethroning toys whose existence dated back to antiquity, like dolls or animals on wheels.”
The My Teddy Bear exhibit began on Dec. 4, 2024, and will run until June 29, 2025.
For the full story on Lamarche’s Béké-Bobo bear’s journey to Paris, watch the video above.
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