The benefit art auction Closer to Gaza has raised over 100,000 Euros in financial aid for the urgent medical crisis in Gaza caused by the ongoing Israeli siege and the military operation Protective Edge. Organized over a five-week period in response to the crisis in Gaza, Closer to Gaza gathered 188 artworks from international artists including: Ai Weiwei, Yael Bartana, Jimmie Durham, Mona Hatoum, Omer Fast, Wilhelm Sasnal, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Closer to Gaza was hosted online by Paddle8.com, from September 10-21, 2014. Over 600 visitors attended the exhibition of the donated artworks during Berlin Art Week, held at Kühlhaus Berlin from September 17-21, 2014.
The remarkable response from the artists was critical to the project’s outcome - a significant amount of financial aid that will be donated to Palestinian Medical Relief Society (P.M.R.S)* and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (P.H.R-I)** The donation will enable the organizations to continue their activities in Gaza in the following fields:
- Wound dressing;
- Operative and post-operative care;
- Assistive devices and rehabilitation for people with disabilities caused by the attacks;
- Physiotherapy sessions at homes or shelters;
- Social and psychological support for groups and individuals in shelters and clinics;
- Registration of newly injured and newly disabled individuals;
- Professional medical training for doctors who are working in Gaza.
For more detailed information, please find below letter from these two organizations detailing their activities in Gaza.
Closer to Gaza would like to express its gratitude to the artists for their generosity, support and cooperation with this project. Without the support of L40, a Berlin art organization focusing on urban and architectural art interventions and time-based art, and Kühlhaus Berlin, a venue for temporary exhibitions, the project could not have been realized.
We would also like to thank all the hardworking volunteers, especially Leah Turner and Nina Mielcarczyk who directed Closer to Gaza’s communications, logistics and artist liaison; and Hendrik Moehler, who led our design and web management.
Further thanks to the curators, art institutions and gallerists that facilitated artist donations, making this event possible.
Sincerely,
The project initiators,
Dani Gal and Assaf Gruber
Aid
Click on the below images to read the letters from Palestinian Medical Relief Society (P.M.R.S) and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (P.H.R-I).
Participating Artists
Oystein Aasan, David Adamo, Nevin Aladağ, Jörg-Thomas Alvermann, Athanasios Argianas, Mehraneh Atashi, Nathan Azhderian, Ilit Azoulay, Silvia Bächli, Caroline Bachmann & Stefan Banz, Elena Bajo, Rosa Barba, Yael Bartana, Thomas Bayrle, Nina Beier, Neil Beloufa, Shannon Bool, Andy Boot, Ulla von Brandenburg, Kerstin Brätsch and DAS INSTITUT, Veronica Brovall, Sophie Bueno-Boutellier, Jota Castro, Sunah Choi, Meg Cranston, Mariechen Danz, Jiří David, Jeremiah Day, Anne de Vries, Richard Deacon, Andreas Diefenbach, Aleksandra Domanovic, Olivia Dunbar, Jimmie Durham, Michaela Eichwald, Slawomir Elsner, Köken Ergun, Ayşe Erkmen, Christian Falsnaes, Omer Fast, Discoteca Flaming Star, Andreas Fogarasi, Alicia Frankovich, Kasia Fudakowski, Dani Gal, April Gertler, Tue Greenfort, Assaf Gruber, Clegg & Guttmann, Armin Häberle, Mark Hamilton, Mona Hatoum, Natalie Häusler, Iris Häussler, Caroline Heider, Rodrigo Hernández, Gregor Hildebrandt, Heide Hinrichs, Benedikt Hipp, Lukas Hoffmann, Emil Holmer, Laura Horelli, Klaas Hübner, Renata Kaminska, Boaz Levin & Adam Kaplan, Thomas Kilpper, Daniel Knorr, Nuri Koerfer, Zlatko Kopljar, Tomasz Kowalski, Susanne Kriemann, Skafte Kuhn, Agnieszka Kurant, Oliver Laric, L/B, Ines Lechleitner, Daniel Lergon, Deborah Ligorio, Kalin Lindena, Roman Liška, Ella Littwitz, Maria Loboda, Thomas Locher, Mahony, Antje Majewski, Katharina Marszewski, Xavier Mary, Sara Masueger, Hadley+Maxwell, Michaela Meise, Michele Di Menna, Maggie Michael, Zoe Claire Miller, Simon Dybbroe Møller, Jonathan Monk, Jana Müller, Christian Philipp Müller, Alexandra Müller, Warren Neidich, Olaf Nicolai, Anna Ostoya, Stefan Panhans, Aude Pariset, Drago Persic, Nathan Peter, Mario Pfeifer, Michael Pfrommer, Pablo Pijnappel, Falke Pisano, Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, Agnieszka Polska, Elodie Pong, Patricia Reed, Ariel Reichmann, Sophie Reinhold, Barak Reiser, Lisa Reitmeier, Mandla Reuter, Mykola Ridnyi, Alex Martinis Roe, Kirstine Roepstorff , Roee Rosen, Martha Rosler, Daniel Roth, Valentin Ruhry, Aykan Safoğlu, e.belit sağ, Sam Samiee, Karin Sander, Gabriel Rossell Santillán, Yorgos Sapountzis, Tomás Saraceno, Wilhelm Sasnal, Eran Schaerf, Martin G. Schmid, Julia Schmidt, Roman Schramm, Maya Schweizer, Marinella Senatore, Jeremy Shaw, Heji Shin, Caterina Silva, Jiří Skála, Mark Soo, Loredana Sperini, Tobias Spichtig, Natalia Stachon, Karin Suter, Pilvi Takala, Jay Tan, Slavs and Tatars, Mathilde ter Heijne, Tillmann Terbuyken, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Niels Trannois, Rinus Van de Velde, Guido van der Werve, Hannelore Van Dijck, Toon Verhoef, Danh Vo, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Shira Wachsmann, Emma Waltraud Howes, Holly Ward, Klaus Weber, Gernot Wieland, Ai Weiwei, Claudia Wieser, Adrian Williams, Alexander Wolff, Susanne M. Winterling, Amir Yatziv, Benjamin Yavuzsoy, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Müge Yilmaz, Natalia Zaluska, Honza Zamojski, Holly Zausner, Zuza Ziółkowska, Elizabeth Zvonar.
Background
On July 8, 2014 Israel launched a military operation called Protective Edge, into the Gaza strip. This offensive has resulted in widespread destruction and a high number of civilian casualties. According to the World Health Organization (August 28th)*: 2,130 Palestinians have been killed, including 577 children, 253 women and 102 elderly people. An estimated 11,066 Palestinians have been injured, including 3,374 children, 1,970 women and 410 elderly people. To date in Gaza at least 17 hospitals and 50 public health clinics (out of 97 total) have been bombed and damaged or closed, 16 ambulances were damaged, 38 health personnel were injured and 23 health personnel died after Israeli airstrikes hit sites their immediate vicinity. There are over 290,000 displaced persons.
In support of the people of Gaza and as a stance against the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian Territories, the auction will benefit Physicians for Human Rights – Israel and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, two NGOs working to promote and protect the right to health of Palestinians. PHR – I has been working for the past 25 years in order to protect human rights, bring end to the occupation, and promote a future in which all people live in freedom, equality and dignity.
PMRS, founded in 1979, is one of the largest NGOs in Palestine and as a non-profit group of volunteers emphasizes prevention, education, and community participation. The organization seeks to supplement the decayed and inadequate health infrastructure caused by years of Israeli military occupation.
The auction will be available for bidding online on Paddle8 from September 10 through 21 and the artworks will be displayed at Kühlhaus Berlin from September 17 through 21 in collaboration with L40 Verein zur Förderung von Kunst und Kultur am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz e.V and its Director Susanne Prinz and the Kühlhaus Berlin.
Sincerely,
Dani Gal and Assaf Gruber
