‘To See the Other’ (2012, acrylic on canvas) by Grete Marstein, president of the Norwegian Artists Copyright Association
A consortium of international and Filipino artists opens the Haiyan International Fundraising Art Exhibition 2014 today at Galleria Duemila as the art community’s sign of support for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international codename Haiyan).
Featuring over 40 international and 17 Filipino artists, the exhibit was conceptualized by Singapore National Artist Goh Beng Kwan and Filipino artist Florence Cinco when they and other artists from the Association of the Southeast Asian (Asean) region convened to celebrate the 86th Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Thailand.
Alongside Kwan and Cinco, the consortium of artists participating in the exhibition includes Ilseon Ryu (Korea), president and art director of Ecorea Biennale Committee and president of the Asia-Pacific Institute of Art and Research; Grete Marstein (Norway), president of the Norwegian Artists Copyright Association and international vice president of the International Association of Art (Unesco); Trinh Tuan (Vietnam); Daniel Houle Jayd (Canada), and Wattanachot Tungateja (Thailand), among others.
‘Street’ (2014, lacquer on wood) by Anx Xuan Nguyen of Vietnam
The exhibition is organized and curated by Cinco together with Red Mansueto and Aimee Villas Adalla.
Each of the artists participating in the Haiyan International Fundraising
Art Exhibition 2014 has contributed an artwork in support of the ongoing relief and reconstruction efforts in the Visayas region.
All proceeds from the art works sold during the exhibition will go to My Shelter Foundation, whose Liter of Light program provides low-cost, simple solar lighting to disaster-stricken areas, creating local jobs, teaching green skills, and empowering local communities.
Since the typhoon struck, thousands of people have lived without electricity. As a result, women feel unsafe, children cannot study at night, and households remain dependent on expensive or unreliable forms of lighting (i.e., kerosene, candles) to survive. In the most devastated communities, these alternative energy sources have already run out.
‘Top Secret’ (2013, Chinese ink on rice paper) by Singaporean Goh Beng Kwan, who conceptualized the exhibit alongside Filipino artist Florence Cinco
My Shelter Foundation was the first organization to respond to the immediate need for lighting in Palo, Leyte, providing the cheapest form of lighting through its Liter of (Night) Lights and street lamps, which were assembled and installed in the community within 40 days of the disaster.
Liter of Light’s efforts to aid the Yolanda victims focus on assembling and installing night lights and street lamps for 228 bunkhouses in Leyte and Samar, the areas most affected by the typhoon. At a cost of just $9 per beneficiary, My Shelter Foundation’s Liters of Light will bring light and hope to over 27,000 people displaced and affected by the storm.
Haiyan International Fundraising Art Exhibition 2014 runs until April 26 at Galleria Duemila located at 210 Loring Street Pasay City.
For more information, call 831-9990 and look for Thess Ponce or Mark Arvin Patiag; or e-mail gduemila@gmail.com. Visit www.galleriaduemila.com; https://www.facebook.com/HaiyanInternationalArtFundraisingExhibition2014; and www.aliteroflight.org.