Hello. I am assisting Gerardhi and Diego Mesía to raise the funds necessary for them to travel to Cologne, Germany for the opening of the Sotheby’s charity auction, where Gerardhi's amazing work “Paraíso Amarillo” (“Yellow Paradise”) will be offered with a minimum bid of €10,000, in the top 10% of starting bids. Diego also has in the auction: "La reconstrucción de la memoria" ("The reconstruction of memory"), with a starting bid of €3,000. The auction required Gerardhi and Diego to donate this work, and they have done so with the hope of getting international attention and buyers for their art, broadening the market for their art, and significantly increasing the prices for their art in the national and international markets. Rather than simply staying for the opening ceremony, it makes sense for them to use this opportunity, traveling so far, to visit and network with museums, galleries, artists, collectors, and journalists. Rather than staying simply in Cologne, they hope to visit other cities as well. Please join me in helping two very talented artists from Santiago Atitlán. This could not only affect Gerardhi and Diego, but help economic development in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala. It would certainly bring more attention to the amazing talents of many indigenous artists and artisans in Guatemala. Here are Gerardhi Mesia’s words, translated from Spanish: “We are excited, anticipating going to Sotheby’s in Cologne, Germany for their charity auction, which offers one of our best works. My brother Diego and I have always dreamed of participating in such an event. But we never thought that the opportunity would be given so soon. We are the first indigenous people in the history of Guatemalan art to go to Sotheby’s. Truly our art and our way of conserving indigenous Mayan art is unique; we turned Mayan art into a new type of art: contemporary modern art–without losing the essence of our cultural identity. We love what we do–we love every detail and color. We love our art of ‘Painting with Thread.’ For this reason we want to live the experience of knowing the house of Sotheby's in Germany, because this is unique in our lives and in our careers. The opening of the exhibition will be from September 28 and we want to be there representing our people and our country, and putting our identity before the eyes of the world. We also want to know and visit various galleries and art museums. And to live the experience of interacting with great gallery owners and to continue looking for opportunities to exhibit and sell our art on the European continent and in other places. We started embroidering as children. My mother's affection always surrounded us and she taught us the craft of embroidery so we could contribute to our family’s daily sustenance. Diego and I have crossed horizons with our style of art. We learned to paint with thread and to speak to the world with a single language; art and nothing but art.” –Gerardhi Mesia, Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala The following is a rough estimate of their expenses for this trip: Airfare $1,900 round-trip per person (complicated by not being able to fly through the US or Mexico, since they require visas which are very difficult to obtain) Hotel at a basic hostel with dorm beds (formally staying with an individual or family would require those persons to formally sponsor and be responsible for their expense). They hope to be able to informally stay with some friendly (perhaps artist or appreciators of art) hosts along the way who could accompany them a bit in their wanderings and networking.) $30 per night per person for 6 - 8 nights = $180 - $240 per person Food $50 - $100 per week per person Ground travel $75 per person Incidentals $100 per person Total $2,400 per person, or $4,800 for both Gerardhi and Diego. If more money is raised, they could stay longer. Once enough funds have been raised, I’ll withdraw the funds to my personal bank account to purchase the plane ticket(s) and reserve the hostel. If for some reason the trip does not happen, I will return funds to donors. Do you know anyone in Germany or France who would like to accompany Gerardhi and Diego to museums and galleries, and help orient them to a city they are visiting, or informally host them in their home? Please reach out to me. You can find me on FB. Sincerely, Eliza Strode
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