The devastation from the flooding seen in Karachi and its surrounding cities isn’t over yet. Rehabilitation will take long term efforts and solutions as well as the drive to make a difference.
But if there’s one thing you can say about Pakistanis, it’s their desire to step up and help out when authorities fall to the wayside. Artists For Flood Relief is one of those initiatives
Shaheen Jaffrani, Numair Abbasi and Shanzay Subzwari are three Karachi based artists who came up with the idea to sell their work and donate their earnings to flood victims.
“Initially I thought I’ll sell some work and donate that money for flood relief. Asked Shaheen and Shanzay if they have something ready to be donated for the cause too and they were more than willing. We got our work together and set up an Instagram page, Artists for Flood Relief and it just expanded from there. A lot of other artists offered their work too and we began to grow”, Numair told Images.
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What started off as a small personal effort has grown massively within just a few days. Artists across Pakistan, and even across the globe have reached out to donate their pieces as well and the fundraiser has continued to grow.
Participating artists include well-known names such as Irfan Hasan, Shezil Malik, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Wajeeha Abbasi, Rabia Akhter, Asma Javeri and Samreen Sultan. However, it also includes works of professional and self-taught artists, students, and children, all of whom want to put their efforts into this amazing cause.
“One our second day, we got an inbox from a nine-year-old child who wants to donate her artwork for this cause,” mentioned Shanzay talking about the overwhelming response of the formal and informal artist community.
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For now, Artists for Flood Relief is working with three organizations; The Environmental, Smile Sunshine, and Food for Thought – all of which are working on various relief efforts pertaining to floods. From rehabilitation of homes to providing flood – the idea is all funds gathered be contributed to relief work needed post flood.
According to Shaheen, the idea has been inspired by Prints for Pandemic Relief, a fundraiser done for pandemic relief earlier this summer. Although similar, Artists for Flood Relief is not inviting artists particularly but is an open call to everyone and will be auctioning the original artworks once the campaign to sell prints ends.
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The fundraiser is all about displaying talent and making a difference, no matter where it comes from. “When a range of work is displayed at one platform, everyone gets equal opportunity to show their work to the public. Who knows the amateur ones sell the most prints?” agreed Numair and Shaheen.
The prints will be done on canson infinity, a paper that has archival life. They will all be standard 9 x 12 size and will be priced at Rs. 6000 each.
The initiative is using London as an international base to help connect to their international community and sell their artwork.
“Often artists and students may not have large funds ready to be donated, but donating artwork is essentially the same and a great exercise to play their part in helping communities.”
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“It’s so refreshing to see that artists from not only Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad but relatively smaller cities like Bahawalpur, Abbotabad and Makli have also gotten in touch and are eager to share their work.”
In bringing together artists from all across the world, it removes the idea that art is for the elite. It brings art and activism to the very roots of the movement.
“Many think that art is for the elite or only belongs to collectors and curators but this effort will not only make it accessible to the masses but also help use art for such a good cause,” Shaheen concluded.
