Rojava has been a model to the world. Now it is time for the world to stand with Rojava.
Ten years ago, artists around the world came together for Artists for Kobanê, an online auction whose proceeds directly supported people defending the city and civilian populations brutally impacted by ISIS. This act of international solidarity delivered concrete, life-saving support for the urgent needs of displaced families and reconstruction efforts. Today, Kobanê is once again under severe threat. Over the past month, attacks on Rojava by the Syrian regime backed by international powers have forced more than a hundred thousand Rojavans to flee.
In 2015, the Rojava Revolution declared the region autonomous and introduced a decentralized system of communal self-governance emphasizing women’s liberation and a cooperative economy while uniting diverse ethnic and religious communities. At the same time, it has had to defend itself against ISIS, foreign aggression, and crippling sanctions on Kurdish communities while also caring for more than fifty thousand ISIS detainees often abandoned by their own countries of origin. Defending this rare democratic alternative has already cost of tens of thousands of lives among its self-defense forces, and Rojava is again under attack now.
Today, Kurdish artists across Bakur, Başûr, Rojava, and Rojhilat—together with international artists and in partnership with e-flux and the Van Abbemuseum—launch the Rojava Solidarity Benefit. This online sale features works donated by artists from around the world, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Kurdish Red Crescent to provide vital medical supplies, shelter, food, and emergency relief.
With works by: Agnieszka Polska, Ahmet Ögüt, Anton Vidokle and Pelin Tan, Ateş Alpar, Christian Nyampeta, Chupan Atashi, Coco Fusco, Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, Daniel Knorr, Daniela Ortiz, Dina El Kaisy Friemuth, Dora García, Fernando García-Dory, Etcetera, Goshka Macuga, Hadi Belge, Haure Madjid, Havîn Al-Sîndy, Hiwa K, Igor Grubić, Jala Wahid, Jonas Staal, Liam Gillick, Luis Camnitzer, Maryam Tafakory, Nevin Aladağ, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Noor Abuarafeh, Not An Alternative, Oliver Ressler, Pauline Boudry and Renate Lorenz, Parastou Forouhar, Rheim Alkadhi, Peggy Ahwesh, Pelda Aytaş, Rana Begum, Raqs Media Collective, Savaş Boyraz, Suzanne Treister, Walid Raad, and more.
