Freedom and Art
Through the Artmesh website I have become a member of the Mirca art group. This group has, through Blurb, published a book called Freedom and Art. The book contains art work and words about how each artist views the concept of freedom, and is expressed in their own words.
The booked is helping to raise funds for Amnesty International in their struggle again the oppressive regime in Myanmar (formerly Burma) who have been holding Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 18 years because she wants democracy and freedom in her country.
Use these links to find the book at both Blurb and Amnesty International:
Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/367936
Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
Each of the 74 artists has a page in the book, this is a copy of mine:
I took this foto in 1990 in a refugee camp in Mexico. It was for Guatemalan refugees who were fleeing the bloodshed there. Just as we were leaving the girl jumped into our car and enjoyed a brief moment of freedom. I hope she is still enjoying it.
The full Mirca press release follows:
The Voice of Art in a Battle for Freedom
International artists create book in support of key political figure
On October 2nd, 2008, the Mirca Art Group, an international coalition of professional artists, will release their landmark collaborative effort, a book entitled Freedom & Art, to the public. The book features 74 works of art, each accompanied by a short statement about the synergy of freedom and art in our world, and is being sold to raise funds in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a key political figure who has been under house arrest in Myanmar (formerly Burma) for the past 18 years over her bid for political freedom.
The book will be released to the public initially through an event called "Set a Book Free" on Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday, October 2nd when all artists featured within the pages of the book will place a copy donated by Internet-based publishing site Blurb.com in a public location to raise interest.
The project was born out of artmesh, a social media website that allows artists to network via forums and groups, similar to the way users interact on social mega-site Facebook.com. Swedish founder Stefan Tunedal created the Mirca Art Group as a private forum within artmesh that would focus on fostering art-orientated discussions in an open, tolerant atmosphere. The Mirca Art group eventually grew to include nearly 250 artists from six continents and over thirty countries. Aung San Suu Kyi and her battle for freedom - a passion of Tunedal's - became a rallying cause for the group and is the inspiration for the book.
According to Carla Goldberg, US-based coordinator and senior editor for Freedom & Art, the book was meant to harness the energy and passion of the artists for Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi into an actionable
strategy to aid in her release. On the effort to work with artists from around the world, Carla says, "The project has brought our group together in a whole new way. There has been a lot of wonderful back-and-forth on message boards and everyone has been willing to offer their individual talents where needed." On the effort to assemble the work of the artists together, she says, "It has been like assembling a beautiful puzzle...each piece is unique and, in the end, everything has fit together to create a complete work of art."
After its initial release to the public in October the book will be available for sale through the official website of Amnesty International and Amazon.com. All proceeds from the sale of the book Freedom & Art will be donated to Amnesty International to support efforts being made on behalf of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's . A traveling exhibit featuring a selection of the art published in the book is also planned. It will open February 14, 2009, at the Mount Beacon Fine Arts Gallery in Beacon, NY.
"I wanted to see what I can do from this safe studio in Stockholm where it would be impossible to even think of imprisoning an elected (official)," says Tunedal when asked about his passion for the plight Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi. "A woman like her should not be treated like this. She has the right to be free," adds Hungarian artist Krisztina Asztalos, writing from the other side of Europe. "Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts...are an inspiration for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation."