Peace in Ukraine still seems a distant concept as Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, yesterday that Russian shelling of Mariupol will end only when Ukrainian troops surrender.
As the conflict continues, more people are on the run and, to show solidarity to them, S.M.A.K., the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent, Belgium, is supporting the charity Een Hart voor Vluchtelingen (A Heart for Refugees).
The museum is collecting in one of its rooms items (you can find the list here – it includes laptops/mobile phones/headphones, but also basic items of clothing such as underwear and socks and accessories like backpacks) that may be useful for refugees (will other museums all over the world follow this example?). The collection will continue until 15th April, but, after that, S.M.A.K. will concentrate on a variety of fundraising activities to provide financial support to refugees.
Three years ago, S.M.A.K. launched a project that involed young people and refugees designing flags representing values rather than nationalities. At the end of the workshop the flags were displayed in the entrance hall of S.M.A.K. In support of people fleeing Ukraine at the moment, S.M.A.K. is now hanging the flags of Ukraine next to these flags.
A group of Italian artists (Fabrizio Spucches, Andreana Ferri, Umberto Cofini) launched instead an Instagram page - Put in Peace, an appeal, but also a pun, almost a call for peace to the Russian President - conceived as a space to collect and showcase works by a variety of artists and creative minds supporting Ukraine. The page will stop being updated when the war will be over.
While one of the founders of the page is currently in the war zones to meet people, refugees, humanitarian associations and volunteers and collect their testimonies, "Put In Peace" has launched an online charity auction of prints.
Entitled "Peace of Art" and organised in collaboration with online auction platform Catawiki, the auction, taking place from 1st to 10th April (on the Catawiki site), will feature donated works by a variety of artists, including Pavlo Makov (the Ukrainian artist who will represent the National Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice), photographer Oliviero Toscani, fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac (who often produces artworks to comment about current events), Italian street artist TvBoy and art duo Goldschmied & Chiari, just to mention a few of them (the list gets constantly updated).
Proceeds from the auction will go to the Cesvi Foundation, a humanitarian organization assisting people in Ukraine and currently operating also in Záhony, Hungary, and in Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania, to support refugees arriving at the borders with safe spaces, essential services and legal assistance.
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