me Collectors Room Berlin: Art 19 – Box One (11.12.2019 – 31.01.2020)
Gerhard Richter, Cut, 2018
William Kentridge, God’s Opinion is Unkown, 2019
For the benefit of Amnesty International, Art 19 is launching a limited edition of ten original fine art prints with new works by Ayşe Erkmen, Shilpa Gupta, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, William Kentridge, Shirin Neshat, Yoko Ono, Gerhard Richter, Chiharu Shiota, Kiki Smith, and Rosemarie Trockel.
The first exhibition of these prints “Art 19 – Box One” will take place at me Collectors Room Berlin from December 11, 2019. Further exhibitions of these prints will follow at the MAMCO – Musée d’art moderne et contemporain in Geneva, at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague, as well as in the Salon D’Honneur of the Grand Palais in Paris
“Box One” is Art 19’s first project comprising ten original fine art prints (98 x 68 cm) by the internationally renowned artists listed below:
Ayşe Erkmen, BBB/ Broken Blue Bracelet, 2019
born in Istanbul, based in Istanbul (Turkey) and Berlin (Germany)
Shilpa Gupta, No Title, 2012 – 2019
born and based in Mumbai (India)
Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, We are Free!, 2018
born in Dnipropetrovsk, today: Dnipro (Ukraine), based in Long Island (USA)
William Kentridge, God’s Opinion is Unkown, 2019
born and based in Johannesburg (South Africa)
Shirin Neshat, From “The Home of My Eyes” series, 2015 – 2019
born in Qazvin (Iran), based in New York (USA)
Yoko Ono, A Piece of Sky, 2019
born in Tokyo (Japan), based in New York (USA)
Gerhard Richter, Cut, 2018
born in Dresden (Germany), based in Cologne (Germany)
Chiharu Shiota, Being Human, 2019
born in Osaka (Japan), based in Berlin (Germany)
Kiki Smith, Flowers in the Sky, 2019
born in Nuremberg (Germany), based in New York (USA)
Rosemarie Trockel, Film Muet, 2019
born in Schwerte (Germany), based in Cologne (Germany)
Presented in a custom made linen covered box, the ten original fine art prints will be available to purchase in a limited edition of 100 copies (at €50.000 per box) to art lovers and supporters of Amnesty International around the world. For further information, please contact office@art19.com. In recognition of their support for Amnesty International the artists have generously agreed not to charge a fee for their work.
Art 19 is an initiative founded by four friends with lifetimes of experience in the worlds of art and human rights – Mike Karstens (gallerist and master printer from Muenster), Burkhard Richter (retired commercial lawyer, art advisor and curator from Dusseldorf), Bill Shipsey (Art for Amnesty founder and retired barrister from Dublin) and Jochen M. Wilms (entrepreneur and art project producer from Berlin). The initial idea grew out of the work that Shipsey and Wilms had done together in Art for Amnesty, Amnesty Internationals global artist engagement programme. They then approached Karstens and Richter who brought their vast experience and contacts at the highest level in the world of contemporary art to the initiative. Karstens has worked with the leading artists in the world for decades. His editions have been acquired by major museums around the world. Among his projects are the development of the Cologne Cathedral Window and the monumental work “Strontium” both by Gerhard Richter.
The ambition of Art 19 through Box One is to raise money to support Amnesty International’s human rights work. The name “Art 19” is an abbreviation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression”.
Amnesty International
In 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson founded Amnesty International with an article he wrote in The Observer newspaper entitled “The Forgotten Prisoners” and launched a campaign that provoked an incredible response. Reprinted in newspapers across the world, his call to action sparked the idea that people everywhere can unite in solidarity for justice and freedom. In his article, Benenson called the jailed persons “prisoners of conscience”, who are defined as those who have not used or advocated violence but are imprisoned because of who they are (sexual orientation, ethnic, national or social origin, language, birth, colour, sex or economic status) or what they believe (religious, political or other conscientiously held beliefs).
Within only one year the organisation, which became Amnesty International, had been formed in countries around the world. It has since grown into a global movement of more than seven million members and supporters, who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. The organisation is funded by members and supporters and is independent of any political ideology, economic interest or religion.