By India Stoughton
BEIRUT: Close to 150 artworks with an estimated value of $1.3 million are set to be auctioned off to help alleviate the plight of Syrian child refugees in Lebanon this November.
The initiative, entitled “Syri-Arts,” consists of an online auction, hosted by website Paddle8, as well as a live auction, to be held on Nov. 8 at the Beirut Exhibition Center.
All 149 works will be on show at the BEC from Oct. 30 until Nov. 8, in an exhibition curated by Dr. Kathy Battista, director of the contemporary art program at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York, who flew to Lebanon for the occasion.
“The Syrian tragedy is an epic one,” says art historian Nora Jumblatt, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt’s wife, who is part of the organizational committee behind the auction.
“We have over 2 million refugees, over 1 million in Lebanon. About 77 percent of those are women and children. A few months ago we reached 1 million child refugees ... [who are] facing horrendous conditions.”
The idea of holding an auction of artworks donated by regional artists and galleries stemmed from two of Jumblatt’s friends, she explains, who organized a similar initiative in Paris last January.
Jumblatt, along with a committee of eight other organizers, began contacting artists and galleries, asking them to donate work for the auction, the proceeds of which will go to charities including UNICEF, Save the Children, Action Against Hunger and several local NGOs working with Syrian refugee children.
“The response was overwhelming,” Jumblatt says. “It was really incredible. We have some excellent, internationally acclaimed artists who have participated in this exhibition.”
Those contributing span the breadth of the Middle East, hailing from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Iran, as well as the Arab diaspora.
The online auction opened Oct. 20 on the Paddle8 website and the total amount bid stood at just over $167,000 Tuesday afternoon, with 10 days to go.
Online bidding will continue until November 8, when 36 pieces will be auctioned off live at the BEC, with prices beginning where the online bidding left off. Those who have already bid on the works online will be able to participate in the auction long-distance.
“We chose a representative group of artists ... and different kinds of work,” says Battista, “paintings, drawings, photography, prints. There’s one for $350 estimate and there’s one for $110,000. It’s a good range, so everybody can get involved.”
Battista, who has a particular interest in women artists from the region, says that curating the show is proving a challenge due to the sheer number and variety of pieces.
“There’s a disparate group of works,” she says, “and there’s also a lot of works for the space, so it’s a different type of curating. It’s really about trying to make it look as good as possible so that people are interested in buying the art work to support the charity.”
When it comes to the auction, she says, the charity aspect can work both ways, encouraging people to bid more because the money goes to a good cause, but also attracting collectors hoping to get a good deal.
“I’ve seen artists in New York, young artists, move from the $20,000 range to $90,000 in a charity auction,” she says, “because it’s an opportunity to get artists that you may not be able to get in the gallery. [Syrian artist] Diana Al Hadid – it’s impossible to get her work right now through her gallery – there just aren’t enough works. But she donated one for this cause, so there will be a lot of interest from collectors.
“A lot of times you can get some good deals, because the gallery’s not taking their standard 50 percent cut, so I’ve bought things at auctions that I would never be able to afford outside of a charity situation.”
Artists whose work is garnering attention online so far include Lebanese painter Nabil Nahas, who has contributed two works, one standing at $65,000 Tuesday after three bids, the other with a single bid of $18,000. The two works together are estimated to raise between $130,000 and $170,000.
Ayman Baalbaki, who sold a painting from the sought-after Moulatham series at Sotheby’s in April for $377,000, has donated a 68x48cm acrylic-on-paper work depicting one of his kuffiyeh-clad fighters, valued at between $15,000 and $17,000.
“Over My Dead Body” by Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum has attracted a number of bids, while high-profile Syrian artists including Youssef Abdelke, Fadi Yazigi, photographer Ammar Abd Rabbo and cartoonist Ali Ferzat have also donated work.
Jumblatt stresses the importance of drawing international attention to the issue at hand through the online auction.
“We’re not only trying to reach the Lebanese,” she says. “The Lebanese have given a lot ... We have to attract the world. The international community has failed in its responsibility to the Syrian child ... Making it an online auction was also to attract attention, to go to the Arab world and to the world and say: ‘There is this problem.’ Even if it’s a drop in the sea, it’s still there.”
“Syri-Arts” will be on show at the Beirut Exhibition Center until Nov. 8, when a number of works will be auctioned live. To find out more about “Syri-Arts” please visit syri-arts.com or to bid for works online visit paddle8.com/auctions/syriarts.
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30/10/2013
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