Dubai-based artist Sacha Jafri hopes a painting inspired by the lives of children with special needs will raise between $75,000 (Dh275,448) and $100,000 in a silent auction this week.
The painting, which goes on show at the Cuadro Gallery tonight to coincide with the unveiling of his new collection, Universe of the Child, was created in a marathon five-hour session on Thursday night at a dinner in aid of Start, the Dubai charity project launched to bring art into the lives of under-privileged children in devastated regions around the world through workshops and education programmes. The event was held in conjunction with this year's Art Dubai, which closed yesterday.
"It was pretty full on," Jafri says, telling of how he painted the 7ftx7ft piece under a spotlight on a stage, pretty much providing the evening's entertainment for some 400 people in a sort of performance art show. "I painted non-stop from 7pm, before the dinner began, to about midnight and people were able to see the painting develop," he explains.
Jafri's inspiration came from art workshops he did for the charity. "The strength in these children's lives inspired me. Working with them, I learned that their hearts are bigger than any of ours," he said.
"We think our lives are hard, but they have the hardest times of any of us, with angst-filled, often uncertain lives, and yet, their smiles are bigger than ours. They have so much love to give." His painting, he says, strives to unite these two aspects.
Bidders will be invited to make an offer above the $75,000 reserve in writing at the gallery for the duration of the show. "I'm hoping it will go for $100,000 or more, because 100 per cent of the proceeds will go to Start," Jafri says.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old British artist will debut his Universe of the Child collection at the gallery tonight. The 18 large-format pieces in the exhibition are the result of two years' work travelling around the region and visiting some of its most disaster-struck areas. "I wanted to reflect the tremendous diversity of the region through the eyes of children," he says. "People outside the region tend to group the Middle East together, and I wanted to show that each country is different, by going on and working on the ground."
The project grew from work in Darfur, where he worked in refugee camps.
From there, he says, he went to Palestine and was slowly drawn to visiting other countries in the region to seek out children who were victims of war, disaster or disease. "Darfur was horrific, it was stuff you wouldn't want to print. These people have been put through the mill… yet they showed this strength of humanity that was humbling.
"They were left for dust, but managed to survive without food or water. That inspired me." But it is with children, he says, that the emotions truly come to the fore. "Working with children gives you a truth that you don't get from adults."