Beauty against AIDS


 

 

 

 

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Last Friday the DAA book launch and charity auction at Campo & Campo took place and fun was had by all...

When we arrived at Campo & Campo the rest of the DAA crew were already milling about, together with the Campo crew who made sure that everything wasvery well organized indeed. The had arranged for a table & chair at the top of the stairs at the entrance of the auction venue for me to sit & sign books and as it was the only available chair as far as I could see, i didn't let go anymore;-)

Soon my daughter Nona joined me and lots of people entered the venue: photographers and other artists, friends, family, media, art collectors, business relationships...quite a mixed lot. I was especially moved when I met Fernanda, the mother of Peter Verhelst, my assistant who died of an AIDS related illness all those years ago and who inspired me to switch from fashion to AIDS activism- still focusing on the beautiful side of things, obviously!

After the reception, presenter Sandra Deakin spoke about our new book and the history of DAA, Michael James O'Brien thanked everybody who worked on the book and the auction and I gave an impromptu speech, explaining why beauty can play such an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If you want to know more about that, just buy the book;-)

At 9 PM the auction started for real and the almost 50 works changed hands fast- almost everything got sold, except 7 or 8 pieces who didn't reach their minimum price. Result: lots of happy buyers who left the place in the dark of night, carrying one or more great art works.

Now that the auction is over, I want to concentrate on the international promotion of the book, so we can generate some funds for our education center which will open in one month's time, on December 1st.

Meanwhile, for any artists among you reading thsi, please send us your work so we can add it to your album -or create a new album for you if you don't have one yet on the BWI website.

There's no such thing as too much beauty, so please bring it on!

Ninette

 

 

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  1. Our sister organization NGO Designers against AIDS (DAA) has the Twitter account _DAA and they're trying to organize #PersonalTweetsOnlyDay on September 1st. Here you can find out why.

  2. Beauty without Irony wants to become a place where lovers of true beauty and haters of hypocrisy and hypes come together- although we don’t really ‘do’ hate, since we prefer to focus on the positive at all times.
    Do you want to make the world a more beautiful place? Do you have something amazing to show, or do you know an artist who would fit perfectly in our online art collective? Please let us know and meanwhile, get inspired by what you see here.

  3. This still is from a video installation by contemporary artist Marie Julia Bollanssée- I love the atmosphere and the colours!

  4. Last Friday the DAA book launch and charity auction at Campo & Campo took place and fun was had by all...

  5. On Friday October 29 auction house Campo & Campo in Antwerp auctioned many art works made by photographers and other contemporary artists who also contributed to our new book 'Designers against AIDS: The First Decade!'.

    From the almost 50 works on offer, only 4 didn't sell because they didn't reach the minimum price, so we can say that the auction was a big success. All proceeds go to benefit DAA's new Education Center and a big thanks goes out to everybody who has made this auction and the book possible- you are all superstars! Enjoy the collage of the sold works, made for DAA by Michael James O'Brien and Zoltan Gerliczki.

  6. Over 100 artists are featured in the book, but many more have sent us work....

  7. The making of this book has been pretty intense for a lot of people, so when it arrived from the printers today, a collective sigh of relief could be heard from Antwerp to ...well, to everywhere. Well done, us!

  8. For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.

  9. We're quite taken with this video called A Warm Place which was made by Jeff Morris in Yosemite Park in California USA. The power of nature is without compare and we're in awe of her beauty.

  10. Beauty without Irony (the art collective that gave birth to Designers against AIDS in 2001) wants to make the world more beautiful by using elements from pop culture to raise awareness about the fact  that life is worth living and that true beauty, love, friendship, health and nature bring lots more- and longer lasting-  joy than expensive handbags, villas or yachts.