Bears of Poland calendar
#WEAREBOP 2020
BEARS OF POLAND ASSOCIATION
10th ANNIVERSARY CALENDAR
BoP means to many of us.
I don't have to pretend anything to myself or my loved ones."
It fulfills my need to act to support my brothers.'
Jakub: 'If it wasn't for BoP, I'd never leave the closet. I wouldn't have the courage to accept who I am and I would never meet such wonderful people. I wouldn't become the person I am now.'
Krzysiek: BoP made me realize that I can be desirable the way I am."
I am proud that I can contribute to such an open and warm community, full of wonderful people.'
Ladislav: BoP is close to my heart for several reasons. Here I met the love of my life. Here I feel accepted as I am.'
Maciej: BoP means confidence. Being a part of it has liberated me and opened a dozen or so "doors" in my head.'
Such special anniversary, 10 years of Bears of Poland existence is a great time to show how far we’ve come since 2009. Being founded from a dream of our founding fathers to a thriving nationwide multicultural community proud to be who they are as bears.
This calendar is a collective work of 27 bears who pushed themselves to stand in front of the camera of the amazing Anthony P. Maniery (creator of the ARRESTED MOVEMENT project) to show the world the diverse beauty of our polish bear family.
This experience changed us big time. For all of those 46 Bears of Poland (comb who decided to participate in ARRESTED MOVEMENT and #WEAREBOP photoshoot the experience was liberating and eye-opening.
We fell in love with ourselves, in a whole new way.
Without low self-esteem and self doubt.
We hope that this project will be remembered as our manifesto showcasing that we are as strong as ever as a family – looking to our collective future with our heads up high.
Brothers for brothers.
Everyone is different. All are equal.
ANTHONY ♥ BOP
„One thing that I’ve noticed from the men that I’ve met in Poland was this massive sense of brotherhood and community.
It’s something that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.
They have left a mark on me. I am very very grateful.„
BOP ♥ ANTHONY
As a community we’ve been in love with Anthony’s work for years. It has been brought up so many times in talks between our brothers during our events. We were always looking up to him regarding his passion to bring a positive message to all of us, to simply: #LOVEYOURSELF
When we began working on the vision of our 10th Anniversary with the core message of bear pride in Poland, Anthony almost immediately came to our minds.
Just the idea itself was a surreal thing. To have Anthony P. Manieri here with us. In Poland. To show him our community during the launch of our 10th Anniversary celebrations in October. And finally, to bring his amazing project ARRESTED MOVEMENT Project to our polish bear community.
As a Bears of Poland we were hoping that going through such experience here will inspire our boys to be better for themselves. We’ve been watching Anthony’s magic with his project growing up to become a cultural phenomenon. We were about to experience his goodwill energy and his kindness first hand…
Anthony, you’ve changed us big time.
For all of those 46 Bears of Poland who decided to participate in his photoshoot the experience was extremely liberating and eye-opening. We fell in love in ourselves in a whole new way. Without low self-esteem and self doubt. We hope that our calendar will share that feeling even further.
You’ve made us love ourselves in a whole new way.
Thank you Anthony.
We ♥ you to bits.