Last Friday the DAA book launch and charity auction at Campo & Campo took place and fun was had by all…
When we arrived at Campo & Campo the rest of the DAA crew were already milling about, together with the Campo crew who made sure that everything wasvery well organized indeed. The had arranged for a table & chair at the top of the stairs at the entrance of the auction venue for me to sit & sign books and as it was the only available chair as far as I could see, i didn’t let go anymore;-)
Soon my daughter Nona joined me and lots of people entered the venue: photographers and other artists, friends, family, media, art collectors, business relationships…quite a mixed lot. I was especially moved when I met Fernanda, the mother of Peter Verhelst, my assistant who died of an AIDS related illness all those years ago and who inspired me to switch from fashion to AIDS activism- still focusing on the beautiful side of things, obviously!
After the reception, presenter Sandra Deakin spoke about our new book and the history of DAA, Michael James O’Brien thanked everybody who worked on the book and the auction and I gave an impromptu speech, explaining why beauty can play such an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. If you want to know more about that, just buy the book;-)
At 9 PM the auction started for real and the almost 50 works changed hands fast- almost everything got sold, except 7 or 8 pieces who didn’t reach their minimum price. Result: lots of happy buyers who left the place in the dark of night, carrying one or more great art works.
Now that the auction is over, I want to concentrate on the international promotion of the book, so we can generate some funds for our education center which will open in one month’s time, on December 1st.
Meanwhile, for any artists among you reading thsi, please send us your work so we can add it to your album -or create a new album for you if you don’t have one yet on the BWI website.
There’s no such thing as too much beauty, so please bring it on!
Ninette