Art Dubai to Donate Share of Ticket Sales to Earthquake Relief
The earthquakes have claimed almost 8,000 lives in Turkey and Syria so far, with World Health Organisation officials estimating up to 20,000 may have died.
The wreckage of a collapsed building in Diyarbakır, Turkey, on 6 February, 2023. Photo: VOA.
Art Dubai will reportedly give half the money raised from early online ticket purchases to aid in relief efforts following devastating earthquakes in Turkey.
Tickets are valued at 90 to 102 Dirhams (US $24–32), and over 30,000 people visited the fair in 2022. Doing some quick maths, the donation is potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Art Dubai takes place from 1 to 5 March. Proceeds from tickets bought until 28 February will go to registered charities to support those affected.
'The money will be sent as soon as is practically possible,' a spokesperson for Art Dubai told The Art Newspaper.
'The areas and communities affected are some of those that we are particularly close to in the region and it's important to be able to help however we can, and for that support to be pledged as early and quickly as possible', they said.
Most of Turkey's contemporary art galleries and art museums are located in Istanbul and cities in Western Turkey, far from the impacted area in the country's Southeast.
Heritage sites and museums near the quake, however, were damaged, including the ancient Gaziantep Castle in the central Şahinbey district and the century-old Cathedral of the Annunciation in Iskenderun, which collapsed completely.
Sevda Elgiz, founder of the Elgiz Museum in Istanbul, told Ocula Magazine that 'besides our donations (the only thing we can do), we are extending to the municipalities affected by [the earthquake] our support to preserve the many important historical museums in the area, the heritage of humanity'.
Turkey has entered a seven-day mourning period following the earthquake.
'We are all deeply affected by this terrible disaster and we are in deep sorrow,' said Bengü Kırkız Ergüven, Communications Director of the Odunpazarı Modern Museum in Eskişehir.
With the situation still unfolding, it is too soon to understand the full implications of the event.
'Hopefully, we will be able to get a clearer picture of the arts scene as we receive good news from the earthquake zone and are able to heal the wounds,' said Ergüven.
'Natural disasters like these affect everyone in different ways. The economic and psychological effects will be inevitable,' said Ed Derala, Director of contemporary art gallery Pi Artworks in Istanbul.
'I think it is very important for us to be in solidarity from different perspectives and to support Turkish art and artists in this process', Derala added.
Those who wish to support search and rescue efforts can make donations to NGOs such as the Turkish Search & Rescue Association AFAD and Turkish Red Cross Kızılay. —[O]
