The book has arrived!


 

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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!

I'm sitting at my office -the first real office I have in my almost 57 year old life, by the way- surrounded by flickering candle light. It's getting dark and everything is quiet, as my team members have left to go home. People who know me, also know that I'm almost glued to my computer, working day and night on various projects, of which 'Designers against AIDS' and 'Beauty without Irony' are the largest by far.

I've been leafing through my first book a few times already today and every time my heart skips a beat or two, as it's as if my life -or at least the last ten years of it- is flashing by in front of my eyes and it's only now, when I see all those projects and talented people who supported them in one place, that I see how major the results are- and I believe that we're still growing.  I feel thankful and humbled by all that creativity and idealism that I've witnessed during that period and of which I hope to see a lot more in the years to come.

When you say that you want to change the world, make it a better and more beautiful place, people often shrug their shoulders and say: 'What can one person do? It's just a drop in the ocean!'. Maybe. But if you have a vision, if you follow in through and don't give up when other people say it'll never work, you'll find others who will join you and together it WILL start to work at some point. That's the power of being human, of idealism and wanting to do the right thing, of creativity- and in this case, also about the power of the internet, as it has widened my network immensely, both in figures and geographically.

In this case, it means that hundreds of artists and others from all over the world, are showing that world their vision and their hope that we can make it a more beautiful place, one way or the other.

I really hope that you want to join us -and that many people get to see this inspiring book. Proud day today;-)

 

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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.