Auroville’s second annual Art for Land Auction took place on February 25th after a month-long exhibition of creativity, beauty, and generosity. Art for Land is a dedicated action started last year to raise funds to secure land within the Auroville Master Plan area. In a non-commercial system of flowing generosity, over 300 artworks were contributed by more than 70 artists to benefit Auroville’s land. Works were distributed at the auction via donation-bids which were contributed as donations for the land.
Throughout February, the walls and spaces of Auroville’s Unity Pavilion had been adorned with paintings, photographs and prints ranging from colourful portraits to subtle monochrome abstracts, and the open spaces were dotted with dramatic large sculptures and delicate ceramic pieces. Some of the donating artists enjoy wide renown in India and beyond. Contributed artworks from an earlier time had a special significance: they were seen and touched by the Mother.
Visitors to the Unity Pavilion were encouraged to take their time to wander through this impressive showcase and to place a bid for their desired works. A dedicated website Art For Land Web Site also permitted viewing via its online gallery where works were accessible via search by artist, media, or randomly. Online bidding was possible by clicking on a specific work via the site. There was a parallel sale of donated rare photographs of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.
Auction Day on February 25th took place in a festive atmosphere, with Auroville’s Paul as auctioneer, whose entertaining banter kept the audience chuckling. Over 67 works of art received winning bids and found new homes – all to benefit Auroville’s land. The artworks will remain on display throughout March with ongoing bidding via Art For Land Web Site until the next upcoming Art for Land Auction later this year.
In addition to the exhibition, there was a month-long program of daily fundraising activities at Unity Pavilion. In a rich cultural mix, Aurovilians and guests contributed their talents in the areas of music (concerts by the popular Auroville band Emergence, musician NADAKA, and traditional Indian music), dance (Odissi dance, World dance, African Dance, and world folk dance by the U.S. group Vanaver Caravan), film screenings, a Japanese Tea Ceremony, sessions on Yoga Nidra, as well as talks on Auroville’s 49 years of history, and on the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The February 28th gala “Coming Together for Auroville’s land” culminated February’s land solidarity actions with an appropriately joyous celebration.
“We were so pleased with the response and awareness created to support Auroville’s goal of securing the land in the Master Plan area,” says organising team member Jaya. “ We were very inspired by the high standard of artworks, the depth of generosity, and the project’s long-term potential to establish awareness and manifest support. It was great to see so many people come together to help secure the lands needed for The Mother’s vision of Auroville, now in its 49th year!”
The Unity Pavilion team, in association with “Lands for Auroville Unified”, intends to continue the Art for Land initiative and website as an ongoing showcase on a larger and more collaborative scale in the future. “Securing the land Mother envisaged for Auroville needs a very sustained collective effort,” says Jaya. “This is possible through an aspiration of unity – in attitude as well as material effort. The Mother said that she’d rather have one million people give one rupee each than one person giving one million rupees! Ganga’s power is built by the trickles and the confluences together!
The Art for Land team believes beauty can be a welcoming door for a Ganga of goodwill for the lands needed to manifest The Mother’s vision of Auroville, “the City the Earth needs”. The dream now is to reach out so widely that both the million people and those with the million rupees will join in answer to The Mother’s call: “The lands for Auroville are to be bought and can be bought … Will you help?”
LFAU & the Land Board express their gratitude to:
- the over 70 artists for their great generosity and the Unity Pavilion team that worked so hard to make Art for Land 2017 a rich and inspiring success: Jaya, Devasmita & Rema
- Jasmin, Suresh, Rema & Rakhal for their work on the Art for Land website; Loretta and Swaha for their collaboration with the rare photographs of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother donated from Loretta’s personal collection.
- the teams at Savitri Bhavan, Pitanga, Kalabhumi, as well as to Jo, Emiko, & Veronik for the immense job of framing and hanging the works,
- the many musicians, speakers, and dancers whose land-dedicated events made February such a special month – as well as the sound engineers, the photographers and film-makers who recorded the events.
Warm appreciation goes to the many friends who donated generously at the “Art for Land” Auction and at “Art for Land” fundraising events!
