At the beginning of the year, we came across many art stories that encourage philanthropy. On the other hand, we found a singular philanthropy action that helps develop culture and art. These two philanthropic "forms" allow the promotion of arts to achieve important social goals such as poverty reduction and help artists gain the necessary resources to develop their talents.
As the examples below confirm, the final goals can be achieved in many ways – through fundraising, virtual exhibitions, large auctions, and in some cases, renowned artists help with some social issues.
So, if you are also in love with the art that serves the greater good, look at the projects of importance to local communities that have been recently launched in the Western Balkans.
Virtual charity exhibition from the International Art Colony
This year, the EKO ZH Association is organizing a virtual exhibition of works of art with a charity character.
The exhibition will feature 70 artworks by students of art academies from Široki Brijeg, Trebinje, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Belgrade, Cetinje, Rijeka and Niš.
The beautiful landscapes of Blidinje were a source of inspiration for the students, so all the paintings contain motifs of nature that show the splendor of the beauties demonstrated on the canvas, the organizers said.
The exhibition has a charity character, and all funds raised from the sale of paintings will be donated to the Center for Children with Special Needs "Marija Naša Nada" in Široki Brijeg.
The artworks can be viewed on the website http://ekozh.org/ until Monday, January 31, 2022. For all additional information about the offered paintings, those interested can contact the Association for Environmental Development and Culture EKO ZH at the e-mail address info@ekozh.org.
Gallery of the Faculty of Fine Arts: Charity exhibition of students for Ana Vukadinović
As a sign of nobility, the exhibition season began in the Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery in Knez Mihailova Street in Belgrade.
Namely, with the New Year's charity exhibition of works by FLU students in Belgrade, they gathered help for Ana Vukadinović, who suffers from bullous epidermolysis.
The exhibition lasted until January 15.
Kika got a professional saxophone: A talented girl finally has a quality instrument
A nine-year-old girl from Paraćin, Kristina Kika Vasić, who attracted a lot of attention by winning competitions and performances in Serbia and abroad, will play on a professional saxophone this year, contributing to her new successes.
Her family managed to buy the high-quality instrument "Selmer Superaction 2" thanks to a donation received by Kika from the company "Moravacem", at the initiative of the mayor of Paracin Vladimir Milicevic, her teacher Nemanja Stojadinovic and "Virtuoso Talent Show" production from Hungary - which is most deserving of the enormous musical success of this girl.
Until recently, Kika played the saxophone, which was lent to her by the "Music School" Milenko Zivkovic", which she attends, but now she finally has her professional instrument. She deserved it with her talent, hard work and success, and the saxophone that Kika got deserves to be played on it. All in all, it is a winning combination for future achievements, says Kristina's father, Boban Vasić.
Last year brought the young saxophonist great popularity and numerous awards. In addition to winning several international competitions, she was a special guest at the concert of the world's greatest opera singer Placido Domingo held at the Tasmajdan Stadium in Belgrade. at the "Virtuoso" concert in Dubai.
Musical-poetic evening to help Luka Stevanović
A charity music and poetry evening was held in Bijeljina on Saturday, January 15, to raise funds for the treatment of the boy Luka Stevanović from Ugljevik, who has leukemia.
The charity evening was held in the Diocesan House at the entrance of the Monastery of St. Vasilije Ostroški at 6 pm, where a box for donations was set up.
The participants are the Church Choir "Holy King Vladislav" from Dvorovi, "Petropavlovski pojci", the female vocal group of the Serbian Cultural and Artistic Association "Semberija", and elementary school students from Bijeljina.
The charity evening is organized by the Bijeljina Citizens' Association "Parents for Children's Rights", who invited fellow citizens to help Luka's treatment with their participation.
At the beginning of the month in Bijeljina, this association organized a charity show and a cultural and artistic program for children and adults, when 850 KM was collected.
The charity exhibition "With brush and pencil against poverty" opened
Charity exhibition of works by the famous Croatian naive painter Alojz Horvat and Bar artists entitled "Brush and Pencil Against Poverty" was opened at the Velimir A. Leković Art Gallery of the Bar Cultural Center.
The exhibition was realized in cooperation with the Parish of Šušanj-Brca-Sutomore and the Parish of Bar, the NGO Novo Sutomore and the Art Gallery "Velimir A. Leković" (JU Cultural Center Bar).
The evening moderator, Ana Čakalović from the NGO Novo Sutomore, said they came together with an admirable goal - to help "those who were less well-off than us" through art.
She also thanked all the artists who donated their works for this occasion.
Jasmina Rabrenović, on behalf of the NGO Women of Bar, pointed out that they gathered at this charity exhibition of works and auction at the same time, to raise funds that will be intended for the National Kitchen run by this association.
We are grateful to the people who do good and spread good, because of whom we have survived for almost four years. Tonight I thank you, dear artists, who paint life with bright colors, and by giving emotions transferred to the canvases, you are giving a part of yourself. Behind each of these images, we see the face of a child or a helpless older adult. We experience your help as warm lamps that illuminate our path to them. It means a lot to us to know that we are not alone in helping helpless, unknown fellow citizens and we are grateful on their behalf and ours from the bottom of our hearts. We are aware that we can only respond to calls for help, which are unfortunately increasing. In these mild days, on the eve of the birth of Jesus Christ - the Son of God, we contribute to the foundation of his words and deeds, to love our neighbor, to share with them joy and sorrow, weight and serenity. May the upcoming holidays bring you health and happiness, peace and salvation, and art lovers enjoy tonight's exhibition, said Rabrenović, thanking the parishes of Šušanj, Brca, Sutomore and Bar, the NGO Novo Sutomore, and the director of the art gallery "Velimir A. Leković" Milun Lutovac on the organization of this evening.
Zoran Đukanović, a representative of the Directorate for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Emigrants of the Government of Montenegro, thanked for the invitation and the part to attend the opening of the exhibition, which has a double significance for this institution.
First, art is what brings us together and awakens the most refined feelings in all of us, so the realization that we, too, have contributed in part to those feelings fills us with pride. Secondly, charity work, i.e., philanthropy, is man's best quality. Helping others in need is the most sacred human duty. This remarkable exhibition came from the cooperation of Bar non-governmental organizations and the art gallery "Velimir A. Leković," and we are delighted with how it was all done. We hope that the users of the National Kitchen will be more satisfied with what will be the product of this exhibition. These are donations from the funds that will be obtained from the sale of these valuable works of art, said Djukanovic and wished the exhibition to last and be visited, and the National Kitchen a source of new funds for its daily charity work.
The director of the gallery and curator of this exhibition, Dr. Milun Lutovac, pointed out that at the end of a rather turbulent year, "as a point, a multi-layered charity exhibition appears, which hides many different meanings, and one of the basic ones is human beings taking care of one another”.
It is an unusual story about poverty, about what prompted us to make this exhibition. Whatever we did about it was sincere and with the intention that the works that are here are distrubuted, sold and in the homes of those who love art, and on the other hand to turn that love for art into a benefit that will spill over through elementary necessary, and that is one meal in the National Kitchen that is necessary for many of our residents. Thinking about what to say at the opening of this exhibition, I thought of one unusual dimension that, in addition to all these great tourist guides, in addition to the great political and geostrategic plans being made on our planet these days, I have not heard anyone make a guide to poverty. And I think the guide to poverty would be the best way to talk about the current state of the planet, about all the problems that are pressing us, that bring us into an unusual situation to fight with ourselves and with all that this world, no matter how far, hides. The trap that there may be some darkness that is still packed in that Pandora's box, Lutovac said.
Dr. Dejan Turza, pastor of Sutomore, Brce and Šušanje, officially opened the exhibition.
The evening was enriched with music by the talented guitarist Novak Gvozdenović. All funds raised at this charity exhibition will be donated to the National Kitchen of the NGO Women of Bar. The exhibition will be open until January 23 next year.
In addition to the work of Alojz Horvat, whose exhibition basically initiated this project, the exhibition features works by Muharem Muratović, Goran Ćetković, Maja Čakalović, Marko Čakalović, Vlad Iličković, Petar Vujošević, Milun Lutovac, Dalibor Dado Ćetković, Jasmina Ćetković and Danijela Stanković Chives.
Painter Idriz Sadikaj's charity exhibition: Fine art to a hot meal for schoolchildren
The well-known-unknown Pula painter Idriz Sadikaj, artistic name J.C. Maxim, after four decades of work and life on the Paris-Pula route, Maxim decided to present it to his fellow citizens and presented them with an exhibition of one of his great works of art presented in a new, ingenious initiative to revitalize abandoned or unoccupied urban spaces and turn them into temporary galleries. Thus, the city and the citizens get a new cultural product, a new vision, almost without any financial expenses, and the awareness that urban spaces are a common good and that citizens should know how to dispose of them.
This is exactly what happened with the charity exhibition, which attracted many fans of his work to Ulica Sergijevaca 21, but also passers-by who were brought back to the city by Advent, and additional content attracted their attention. Interestingly, this Pula painter is almost unknown in his own city, while people buy his paintings worldwide. One of them is in the greats of world painting at the World Trade Center in New York. The exhibition is of a charity sales character. The entire income from the sale of artworks is intended for those Pula schoolchildren who do not have adequate meals due to their difficult financial situation.
Photo by Duško Marušić Čiči
Something has begun to happen that offers us optimism. The spaces that are otherwise neglected and are owned by the City are quickly turning into a gallery and attracting people and citizens to the City. We are fully aware that the store in the city center is almost entirely dead. In the future, it will undoubtedly be necessary to strategically plan and think that these spaces, among other things, are offered to cultural figures and artists, said prominent academic sculptor Eros Cakic who introduced the author on that occasion.
Idriz is noble, self-effacing. He never pushed and imposed himself. And he worked patiently and for a long time, four decades in Montmartre, imagine what a school it is. In addition to the art he loves the most, he lives with it and lives from it, and he is one of the artists who can be proud of that. He organized an exhibition of a charity character, thinking of those in need. This noble act that entails some other thoughts about who all live in this City and about whom we know nothing. About the possibilities to finally get to know ourselves and people who can give the City the dignity it should have and that Pula once had through the neglected spaces and our thinking about using the City. It has started, and I hope that it will get better and be even more such spaces. We talked about the possibility of establishing an extempore in this street that would happen in the summer all the way to Kandler. This is one of the ideas that we, together with the Tourist Board, will place and do even more for this City, said Čakić about the initiative, which was extremely well received by both artists and citizens.
He said the following about the self-denying author: Idriz's paintings are made in different manners, and one word that can characterize him is - skill. He skillfully handles the painting craft. Here, the five-meter blue painting was almost made in rasters, and it has new dimensions, so we can call it a new painting, and at the same time a traditional painting. I respect his work, skill, long-term commitment, and his wife Ediba, who has been his support all his life, and we can say that Idriz is what he is, thanks to Ediba, said the sculptor from Pula.
The author addressed the visitors, emphasizing that this is a new return: After four decades of working in Paris, I am returning to my City, the City of my youth, and I feel some new energy, some movement, something is changing for the better, and we should all participate. The painter concluded that the most important thing is to help children, thanking Pula Mayor Filip Zoričić.
Namely, the City provided the exhibition space and the necessary logistics for this charity exhibition. Anja Ademi, head of the Administrative Department for Local Self-Government, also attended the exhibition's opening. On behalf of the mayor and the entire city administration, she expressed great satisfaction and supported this initiative again.
The experience of art comes from intuition and is individual. I hope that all of you who will see the exhibition today and in the next two weeks will find something for yourself and thus help the youngest, said Ademi.
She invited citizens to participate in the charity action and visit the exhibition, which is open in this new-old city space until January 15.
Book sales helped raise more than 2,000 EUR for children with autism
Journalist and poet Arber Selmani handed over to the Autistic Association in Pristina the second part of the proceeds from the sale of his book "Kosovo in 14 Cultural Stories", as promised at the first promotion of the book. The donated amount this time was 1,285 euros, which will help families with children with autism. The total amount that the poet contributed this year reached 2,318 euros.
Today, I sent the last donation for this year to the Association "Autism" - Pristina, since the sale of my second book. A total of 2,318 euros was collected in three donations, for which I thank and bow to each of you! Without you, neither a charity action, nor the purchase of books, nor this help is possible. Good luck. About 500 euros have been collected from the personal invitation alone in the last three weeks. I thank him for this previous donation, especially my friend Zana Hoxha, who bought 20 copies of the book with her team this year, and another friend, Rudina Jakupikoja. They also bought five copies for herself and her colleagues. I am very honored that you have helped me since March this year; when the book went on sale, it was said in a post on Facebook.
Furthermore, Selmani showed that the artist Dafina Zeqiri also visited the Association.
Fortunately, the singer and my friend Dafina Zeqiri visited the Autism Association. Dafina dedicated the physical sale of her latest album to this Association and the well-being of these children. However, I can't say the amount Dafina donated, but it is above expectations and predictions, making me very happy. Dafina promised today that she would not stop with that, and this former one wanted to serve as an inspiration to every other artist! Besa, I will not stop with that either!, added Selmani.
Elementary school students donated their time and volunteered in a creative workshop with children with special needs
Talented students of Delčevo schools, together with the users of the Day Care Center, learned the secrets of painting for three days within the Art Workshop, which is realized within the manifestation "Days of Humanity".
According to the National Institution Center for Culture "Nikola Jonkov Vapcarov" from Delcevo, 16 students and three people from the Day Care Center for Persons with Disabilities are actively involved in the workshop.
Expert associates are Aleksandar Belogaški and Blagica Stojanovska. The activity's primary goal is to integrate and socialize participants and create works of art with a particular emphasis on painting techniques, added the Center for Culture.
