Contemporary Art for Refugees,
8th edition
November 25, 2009 8:30 PM
Exhibition: November 20 – 24, 2009
Sotheby’s Milan
Palazzo Broggi
via Broggi 19, Milan
On the 25th of November at 8.30 PM, on the occasion of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art auction in Milan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) will present the 8th annual edition of “Contemporary Art for Refugees”- initiative for fundraising in support of refugees.
Thanks to the generosity of many artists that have donated their works to UNHCR, and to Sotheby’s collaboration, paintings, photographs, installations, videos, and sculptures will be put up for the auction. Some of these works have been created expressly for the UNHCR and have been collected by Open Care – the art services company which organized the auction.
Among the artists involved are some of the best on the international scene: Alfredo Jaar, Nedko Solakov, Tomas Saraceno, Kimsooja, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Grazia Toderi, Vincenzo Castella, Nico Vascellari, Adrian Paci, Liliana Moro, Cesare Pietroiusti, Marcello Maloberti, Simone Berti, Francesco Jodice, Claudio Gobbi, Flavio Favelli, Christian Frosi, Andrea Sala, Federico Pietrella, Alessandra Spranzi, Gea Casolaro, A12, Roberto Bernardi & Raphaella Spence, and Moira Ricci.
The auction is being held in order to raise funds for the “Water for Refugees” project, in aid of more than 125 thousand refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi living in three different UNHCR camps in Tanzania.
This project provides over 25 thousand families in the camps of Nyarugusu, Lugufu, and Mtabila with new wells, new water distribution points, and a water purification system which will help reduce the sometimes life-threatening diseases caused by the use of non “safe” water. A protection program will also be implemented, designed to safeguard refugee women and children from violence which they are often subjected to – as they have to travel long distances to reach the rare “safe” water distribution points which are currently available in the camps.
Despite the ceasefire agreement ratified in January 2008, violence continues to be prevalent in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Up to now, about 370 thousand refugees have escaped the country, with over a million internally displaced people; while refugees from Burundi, one of the poorest sub-Saharan countries, number more than 280 thousand.
The past editions of “Contemporary Art for Refugees” have raised over a million euro to support a number of very important projects including supplying therapeutic milk for 400 thousand children housed in the UNHCR camps in Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia, digging wells for over 80 thousand refugees, and the creation of 8 elementary schools for over 20 thousand Ugandan and Sudanese children.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) thanks all the artists for their generosity, Open Care for the helpfulness and expertise, and Sotheby’s for the kind and precious collaboration.
A special thanks for the concrete support to Barbara Oteri and Beatrice Oleari (FARE), Elisabetta Galasso (NABA), Silvana Turzio, Maurizio Bortolotti, Verusca Piazzesi (Galleria Continua), and to all those who have given their contribution.
Specifications
Location: Sotheby’s Milan, Palazzo Broggi
Address: via Broggi 19, Milan
Auction date: 25th November 2009, 8:30 p.m.
Exhibition: 20th-24th November
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
For further information:
Press Office UNHCR
Laura Boldrini
Spokesperson UNHCR in Italy
Tel +39 06 80212316
boldrini [at] unhcr.org
Press Office Open Care
Alice Arcando
Tel +39 02 73983233
ufficio.comunicazione [at] opencare.it
Sotheby’s Italy Press & Communication
Wanda Rotelli Tarpino
Tel +39 02 29500202
wanda.rotelli [at] sothebys.com