How To Give It: four fundraisers art and fashion fans will love

Masked: At The Bus
Grayson Perry, Philip Pullman, Andrew Scott, Dawn French, Juliet Stevenson and Jenny Saville are some of the esteemed creatives who donned a face mask to be photographed in aid of the Oxfordshire-based children’s art therapy charity At The Bus. Each sitter was captured in their own space by photographer Joanna Vestey. As well as protection against Covid-19, the mask is intended to be a symbol of the limits of creative dialogue and production over the past year. The resulting limited-edition prints will be sold for £150 each, with all proceeds aiding the charity’s school-based programme of art therapy for children and young people. 

As suggested by the charity’s name, the therapy sessions will take place in a purpose-designed therapeutic studio space in a double-decker bus – painted by Camille Walala – which parks up in school grounds. “To make something from nothing – whether it’s drawing, singing, cooking, trying a new way to kick a ball, organise words in a poem, or invent new technologies,” Jenny Saville says of the charity’s work, “the process is of being utterly present in the moment, where all your concentration is given to a particular creative task. It’s when humans play their best game, can love life and themselves. At The Bus helps children rediscover their habits of creativity. Making something from nothing that is theirs for life. In a moment like this current pandemic, the work of At The Bus is more important than ever.”

Limited-edition prints will be available to buy on 1 February, from 10am, for eight weeks from atthebus.org.uk. Each signed, 28cm x 34cm, fine art archival is one of a limited edition of 50, at £150 each.

Wisdom and Nature
What can the Western world learn from indigenous communities? That’s the question that UK-based charity Le Ciel Foundation set out to answer when it was founded five years ago. Using educational films and programmes co-developed with indigenous communities, the foundation aims to teach children, adults and companies about ancestral wisdom and the importance of the protection and regeneration of sacred territories across the world. 

To raise awareness and funds for the project, next month sees Christie’s host an exhibition and auction of artworks by 49 artists, which centre on pieces about interconnectivity, the earth, traditions and communities. Highlights include Thia Konig’s ethereal photo of two women pushing bikes through a body of water in Vang Vien, Laos, and Canadian artist Carlito Dalceggio’s acid-hued figurative painting La Femme Papillon. Speaking about the exhibition, co-founder Jessie Balfour-Lynn said: “This unique collection of artworks not only celebrates our planet and its communities, but also acts as a poignant reminder of the importance of ecological and cultural preservation.”

The ‘Wisdom and Nature’ Christie’s exhibition will now run online from 6 -27 April 2021, with the auction on 27 April; wisdomandnature.com

Sidaction
Since losing his partner to Aids in 1990, French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has made it his personal mission to fight the disease. Over the past 30 years he has hosted galas, staged fundraising fashion shows and designed T-shirts for the cause. Now, along with the French HIV and AIDS charity Sidaction, he’s hosting a fashion auction. Comprising 35 lots, the sale will include rare pieces of haute couture, much-coveted accessories and impossible-to-buy experiences, which have been donated by every major fashion house including Chanel, Fondation Azzedine Alaïa, Givenchy, Hermès and Yves Saint Laurent.

Standout prizes include a private visit to the collection of Emile Hermès (the third-generation president of Hermès, and an avid collector of equestrian items), which is hidden above the Hermes flagship store on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, followed by lunch on the terrace. There is also a private visit to an exhibition at the Fondation Alaïa, followed by a dinner for eight in Azzedine Alaïa’s own kitchen, in the company of editor Carla Sozzani and the fashion historian and curator Olivier Saillard. The sale will take place online from 28 to 31 January, with all proceeds going towards Sidaction’s work in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

The auction will be hosted by the Drouot Digital website from 28 to 31 January, drouotonline.com/en

Stargaze
With musicians across the world left bereft of concerts and festivals (and therefore income), one of the few outlets left for performers is to record music. This was the logic of Berlin-/Amsterdam-based classical collective Stargaze, who have launched a crowdfunding campaign to enable them to compose, arrange and record demos remotely and, eventually, to come together in Europe and record an album. The project will see Stargaze work with Arone Dyer, the US musician, composer and vocalist known for collaborations with Bon Iver and The National.

“As a musician, living in this pandemic age is like living in a bad dream and not being able to wake up,” said composer and Stargaze founder André de Ridder. “With Stargaze we decided to realise a better dream, which has, for a while, been to make an album with one of our favourite artists and singers.” Through their Kickstarter campaign, the group are aiming to raise €25,000 to fund the 13 freelance musicians in Stargaze and Dyer to write and produce an album remotely, and eventually record it in a studio.

Donations can be made at kickstarter.com