Go Go Gorillas!
Go Go Gorillas! charity playing cards sponsored by the Eastern Daily Press and the Norwich Evening News.
In the summer of 2013, Norwich was home to some unusual visitors – a glorious trail of gorilla sculptures was set up around Norwich’s streets, parks and open spaces. They were decorated in a variety of colourful and exciting artwork created by schools, community groups and professional artists, and residents and visitors were encouraged to follow the trail.
The event was delivered by leading arts and education company Wild in Art and local youth charity Break, and was sponsored by local businesses. The 10-day event GoGoGorillas raised significant funds for charity when the sculptures were auctioned off at the end of the parade. The chosen charities were Break and the Born Free Foundation►
Above: Go Go Gorillas! playing cards published by Wild in Art Oranisation, UK, in 2013, to raise funds for charities.
The souvenir cards, sponsored by the Eastern Daily Press and the Norwich Evening News, show the gorilla heads and additionally display the gorilla’s name, and the name of the artist and sponsor. See the box
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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