On Sunday, the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic, Rodolfo J Martin Saravia, held a reception to celebrate the 200 years of independence of his country. At the same time, he organised an auction of 24 paintings and three photographs by 11 Argentinean artists to raise funds for the rehabilitation of flood survivors in Sindh.
The funds collected from the sale of these artworks - some of which were being featured in South Asia for the first time - will go to NGO Karachi Relief Trust (KRT), which, in turn, will use the money to build homes in flood-hit areas.
The paintings and photographs were selected while keeping references to Argentinean society and culture in mind as well as with an attempt to nurture relations between Argentina and Pakistan.
Saravia said that he was proud of his six-year-long service in Pakistan. “There are three reasons for today’s celebrations. To celebrate our 200 years of independence from Spain, to foster cultural relations between two countries and charity,” he said.
While the Argentinean embassy is based in Islamabad, Saravia said that Karachi is close to his heart as it was here that the first diplomatic reception of Argentinean embassy was held.
As he had been told that the people of Karachi are even more generous than the people in other parts of the country, Saravia decided to hold his charitable venture here.
While the ambassador initially seemed a little disappointed with the small number of people who attended the auction, he was quickly appeased by the overwhelming response the auction received. It took less than half an hour for the auction to wrap up as people placed generous bids on the artwork on display.
“I will have to take back my word about being unhappy,” said Saravia as he stepped up to auction the last painting himself. Two artworks by Ricardo Cinnali went for Rs170,000 and Rs200,000 while Gustavo Godoy’s ‘Russian Kid’ was sold for Rs260,000.
Bankers, art collectors, dignitaries and entrepreneurs at the auction also greatly appreciated three photographs by Tommy Heinrich which depicted the scenery in Pakistan.
Shams Rafi, a volunteer at KRT, told The Express Tribune that his NGO has started working for the rehabilitation of flood survivors after completing the relief work.
KRT is focused on building homes, small community centres and health clinics, said Rafi, adding that the NGO has already started working in Swat as well as upper and lower Sindh. It now plans to take its resources to Punjab and Baluchistan with a target of building around 10,000 homes.
KRT also plans to collaborate with other NGOs - such as TCF, Hands, Sina Trust and Hunar - for support in medical services, vocational training and educational services in the affected communities. This, said Rafi, is a long-term goal and will continue for years.
Sindh Assembly speaker Nisar Khuhro, Senator Raza Rabbani and MQM Central Coordination Committee deputy convenor Farooq Sattar also attended the event, where Saravia announced that the Argentinean embassy will celebrate 60 years of its diplomatic relations with Pakistan in the coming year.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2010.
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