Artists for Kobanê
An online auction to benefit refugees from Kobanê
December 4–18, 2014
www.paddle8.com/auctions/kobane
With works by:
Nevin Aladağ, Halil Altındere, Allora & Calzadilla, Julieta Aranda, Savaş Boyraz, Phil Collins, Braco Dimitrijević, Jimmie Durham, Maria Eichhorn, Roza El-Hassan, Olafur Eliasson, İnci Eviner, Antje Ehmann/Harun Farocki, Claire Fontaine, Liam Gillick, Nilbar Güreş, Hans Haacke, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Berat Işık, Sanja Ivekovic, Carsten Nicolai, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Ahmet Öğüt, Erkan Özgen, Şener Özmen, Trevor Paglen*, Pussy Riot, Walid Raad, Raqs Media Collective, Martha Rosler, Anri Sala, Pelin Tan, Slavs & Tatars, Cengiz Tekin, Rirkrit Tiravanija/Tomas Vu/Miguel Cardenas, Hito Steyerl, Anton Vidokle, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony
More than 200,000 people have been displaced by recent IS attacks in Kobanê, Shengal, and many other towns and areas in northern Syria and Iraq. Many of the refugees are sheltered by municipalities and provisionally housed in administrative buildings, museums, construction sites or tent camps. The local population in the region has shown amazing hospitality in taking in tens of thousands of refugees, who are unable to go home as long as IS aggressively claims territory.The municipality of Suruç, where around 50,000 refugees from Kobane live, is a priority. The auction will be open for bidding through December 18, 2014.
Update from Suruç
Over 52,000 refugees from Kobanê are still holding out in Suruç tent camps or nearby villages, unable to go home while fighting against IS gangs is still under way.
As winter has come, local resources have become extremely strained and the situation is quite critical. Air strikes stopped making headlines and aid went down sharply.
Refugees in Suruç:
Kobanê tent camp: 1,471 (tent 257, families 257, babies 0–3 age: 228)
Rojava tent camp: 1,100 (tent 110, families 200, babies 117)
Arin Mirxan tent camp: 2,027 (tent 442, families 488, babies 443)
Factory (Suphi Nejat tent camp is in a bulgur factory): 1,100 (tent 40, families 170, babies 149)
Kader Ortakkaya tent camp: 4,000 (tent 382, families 450, babies 393)
Villages (except Aligör Village): 2,407 (families 443, babies 274)
Neighborhoods: 20,101 (families 3,479, babies 1,653)
Total: 52,781 (tent 1,191, families 8,667, babies 5,265)
The biggest issues are: 1) Half of the refugees are children or babies, whose daily basic needs (diapers, special foods) are not met. Similar applies to women. 2) Even though some aid is still arriving, the relief infrastructure itself is in dire need of support: transport, logistics and distribution are organised by volunteers who live under the same conditions as the refugees. Many administrative issues such as recording family members from Kobanê and their health condition are difficult to organise. More human resources are needed. 3) Health volunteers need help and support in terms of medical supplies and wo/man power. 4) The reconstruction effort must be included into long term strategies.
If you would like to contribute, but cannot afford or don’t want to buy art, please make a cash donation here: www.rally.org/kobane—any amount will be greatly appreciated.
The benefit is organized by Hito Steyerl & Anton Vidokle, logistics of the auction are supported by e-flux and Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand.
For further information please contact Rivers Plasketes at rivers [at] e-flux.com.
We kindly thank all of the artists for generously donating their work.
*this work will be sold privately, for inquiries please write to rivers [at] e-flux.com.
