The Panda Shop

The Panda Shop’ is an interactive experience that reveals the hidden power plays behind so-called Panda Diplomacy, which sees China 'lend' giant pandas to countries around the world as a symbol of goodwill. Inspired by the giant panda merchandise shop at the Copenhagen Zoo, visitors to the installation are confronted with a customer-like buying experience, in which they are encouraged to donate to one of China's giant pandas currently housed in international zoos. The buying process is experienced in six increasingly complicated stages, layering the hard 'sales pitch' of commerce over a revelatory exhibition narrative that exposes the realities of Panda Diplomacy.