PortrAid – Get art. Give work.
(The fact) that the poorest countries in the world are still to be found on the "black" continent is not a virtue owed to natural law. It is the result of a fatal blend of misery-enhancing alimentary mechanisms and ignorant convenience of collective looking away/turning of a blind eye. Collaboration requires encounter at eye level, means development through cooperation and is in reality only an institutionalized illusion as a guarantor for a complacent clear conscience.
Whoever really wants to help, has to look. Has to view behind the statistics of anonymized suffering and go on the search for the people, to whom our compassion ostensibly goes. PortrAid sets forth on this path, taking us there, where it hurts. Andrea Bury, Thomas Rusch and their team confront us with reality; make us acquainted with people. The one that has knowledge, can no longer hide behind ignorance; (he) must show his colour: I acknowledge. Am I helping?
PortrAid helps. Striking. Consequent. Courageous. Successful. Enthusiastic inspiring forces mobilizing to release forces. Connected in will, united in success. Born from the desire to really make a difference; today a success story: I see you see. The first project in 2015. Over 70 people have been operated on cataracts to date. I see you learn. Project two in 2016. 58 children have already been granted access to education. Get art. Give work. Now project number three. In the limelight weavers in Ethiopia. Set into the picture by Xiomara Bender, a national and international recognized multiple award-winning photo artist, who has long established herself in the avant-garde of contemporary photography with her unmistakable visual language.
Xiomara's pictures have a lasting effect without being obtrusive. She demands from us stance, without overstraining. She makes us acquainted with Tesfaw Abe, who wants to improve his weaving skills and learn to embroider. She introduces us to Ashenaf Dimaro, who wants to be a good role model for his children. Portrait after portrait, we get to know people who live in a supposedly lost country; with such infinite hope and even more dignity. Human dignity is inviolable. Only a sentence in our constitution or a personal obliging confession? PortrAid gives the answer. Straightforward. Haunting. Lasting. Like the look of the portrayed people, who offer us real cooperation on the common path to a dignified future with the perspective of a self-reliant life. With the return from the sales of the photograph, PortrAid funds a loom for the person portrayed in it. Get art. Give work. Help for self-help; it can be this easy. With your support. This is our heartfelt/sincere request.
Text by Dr. Stefan Grüll