NEWS
NEWS
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AUCTION OF SCULPTURE IN SUPPORT OF SAVE THE CHILDREN'S SYRIA AID PROGRAMME
30th April to 7th May 2016
30th April to 7th May 2016
I am auctioning the above sculpture with all proceeds going to Save the Children's Syrian aid programme. The person who puts in the highest bid will donate the agreed sum directly to the aid agency and will receive the sculpture as a gift from me.
The extreme violence that has characterized the Syrian conflict has created one of the most serious humanitarian and displacement crises in recent history. The estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has now reached 13.5 million, including 6 million children, with 5.3 million people in need of shelter, 8.7 million people unable to meet their basic food needs and 70% of people lacking access to safe drinking water.
After more than four years of conflict three out of four Syrians live in poverty, and life expectancy has fallen by 20 years since the start of the conflict.
Save the Children is providing emergency and longer-term support inside Syria to children and their families affected by the crisis. This support includes the provision of food parcels, emergency aid items and shelter, and access to clean water and other essential services, including child protection activities, education, livelihoods support, healthcare and nutrition.
Please take a moment to follow the link to their website below.
(https://syria.savethechildren.net/)
This sculpture is influenced by the colonnade around the Temple of Bel enclosure in Palmyra. Though this colonnade survives, the Temple itself, considered one of the most important monuments of the Roman world, has been destroyed, together with most of the major monuments in this profoundly important historic site. I visited Palmyra in 2001 and it left an overwhelming impression on me, as did the hospitality and openness of the people of Syria. The destruction of Syria's historical culture because of fighting, looting and deliberate vandalism goes together with the loss of human life and other human suffering caused by this war, also leaving a lasting scar on the lives and culture of the people and of us all.
As I am not set up for an online auction, please simply email me your bid to mail@mattsimmonds.com
I will update this page to show the current highest bid as many times as I can each day until bidding closes on 7th May.
(Please note: all bids should be offered in Euros. As I can only update on a daily basis, if there are two identical bids then the first one received will be valid)
Thank you to everybody for your interest.
The extreme violence that has characterized the Syrian conflict has created one of the most serious humanitarian and displacement crises in recent history. The estimated number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has now reached 13.5 million, including 6 million children, with 5.3 million people in need of shelter, 8.7 million people unable to meet their basic food needs and 70% of people lacking access to safe drinking water.
After more than four years of conflict three out of four Syrians live in poverty, and life expectancy has fallen by 20 years since the start of the conflict.
Save the Children is providing emergency and longer-term support inside Syria to children and their families affected by the crisis. This support includes the provision of food parcels, emergency aid items and shelter, and access to clean water and other essential services, including child protection activities, education, livelihoods support, healthcare and nutrition.
Please take a moment to follow the link to their website below.
(https://syria.savethechildren.net/)
This sculpture is influenced by the colonnade around the Temple of Bel enclosure in Palmyra. Though this colonnade survives, the Temple itself, considered one of the most important monuments of the Roman world, has been destroyed, together with most of the major monuments in this profoundly important historic site. I visited Palmyra in 2001 and it left an overwhelming impression on me, as did the hospitality and openness of the people of Syria. The destruction of Syria's historical culture because of fighting, looting and deliberate vandalism goes together with the loss of human life and other human suffering caused by this war, also leaving a lasting scar on the lives and culture of the people and of us all.
As I am not set up for an online auction, please simply email me your bid to mail@mattsimmonds.com
I will update this page to show the current highest bid as many times as I can each day until bidding closes on 7th May.
(Please note: all bids should be offered in Euros. As I can only update on a daily basis, if there are two identical bids then the first one received will be valid)
Thank you to everybody for your interest.
The Temple of Bel, Palmyra, above from a photo taken before the war, and below the same view today
Colonnade IV: Palmyra limestone, 2016 height 24cm
Winning bid
Euro 8,100
from the UAE
Euro 8,100
from the UAE
