Internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei is one of 27 artists who have lent their support to a high profile charity auction in aid of award-winning NGO, Help Refugees.
The auction, which will commence at 12.00pm ET/5pm GMT Thursday 7 December, will be open for two weeks on the online auction platform Paddle8 (ending on Thursday 21 December) and is being held in conjunction with the UK release of HUMAN FLOW, Weiwei's feature documentary about the global refugee crisis, and in partnership with Cob Gallery.
Says Ai Weiwei: "As an artist, I always believe in humanity and I see this crisis as my crisis. I see those people coming down to the boats as my family. They could be my children, could be my parents, could be my brothers. As a human being, I believe any crisis or hardship that happens to another human being should be as if it is happening to us. I want to thank all the artists for their generosity and hope the funds raised can help many refugees this winter."
Josie Naughton, Co-founder and CEO of Help Refugees said: "We are so incredibly grateful to these artists for donating their beautiful work, and thrilled to be the official NGO partner for Human Flow. Two years on, the grassroots effort is still at the forefront of the response to the refugee crisis. Public and media attention has waned, but we are still watching children arrive by the thousands on European shores cold and sick, and now the harshest winter months are upon us when once again families will be sleeping in flimsy tents. The funds raised from this auction will help provide vital necessities for desperately vulnerable refugees - from winterised shelters to warm food and clothing, emergency medical care and much more. We implore collectors to choose love this winter by bidding generously."
Ai Weiwei, Aitor Throup, Angela Palmer, Cecily Brown, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Claudia Comte, Dan Baldwin, Elaine Constantine, Harland Miller, Haroon Mirza, Hayden Kays, Jason Shulman, Jeremy Deller, Jo Metson Scott, Julian Opie, Juno Calypso, Kate Giles, Marc Quinn, Massimo Vitali, Nina Fowler, Patrick Hughes, Rankin, Robert Montgomery, Rob Ryan, Sophie Kipner, Venetia Barry, Tim Walker.