The exhibition will include the work of six Iraqi painters and three photographers. Samples of their work (and their names!) can be found here and here. This exhibition will benefit The Preemptive Love Coalition’s efforts to provide life-saving heart surgeries for 4,000+ Iraqi children and to increase cooperation between communities at-odds and will premier at the B:Fest Luton Arts Festival in Luton, United Kingdom in The Hat Factory Gallery Space.

The Hat Factory Gallery can be found at this address:
65-67 Bute Street
Luton
LU1 2EY
T: 01582 489159

Look for the exhibition to open May 21, 2009 and run through June 12, 2009. Future stops are set to be announced, but they’re hoping to make a few more stops within the U.K. and further down the road in Sweden, the Netherlands, Hungary, Turkey, and later in the United States.

Any other inquiries about the exhibit and the PLC cause can be directed to info@preemptivelove.org.

Edit // 4-24-09:
Below are a couple photos from a recent exhibit put on by the Preemptive Love Coalition in the United Kingdom. I’ve been informed that this exhibit was a little less formal than the future exhibits will be, but hopefully you get the idea!

“Where art and music collide to benefit breast cancer.”

Ohhh, kids. Kelli Murray, current featured artist, will be at another benefit event. (Which means I’m jealous of all of you San Diego folks.) This time, the event will benefit Keep a Breast, and feature a total of 17 artists, along with DJ Craig Smoove and Slighlty Stoopid drummer Ryan Moran, all at the Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego.

Hard Rock Hotel
100 5th Avenue
San Diego , CA 92101

Tickets are $10 presale and $20 at the door, and can be purchased online at www.wanttickets.com. You really don’t want to miss this.

“My Hands Have a Voice” Art Exhibit will be held Saturday April 18 at 7 p.m. at:
Giving Children Hope
8332 Commonwealth Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90621
714-523-4454

Giving Children Hope hosts “My Hands Have A Voice” Art Exhibit as a response to the issue of human slavery. The evening will include art exhibition of local artists, silent auction of artwork displayed, live music by Eko Funke along with other music by TOKiMONSTA, a film screening of critically acclaimed documentary Call+Response, a TOMS shoes paint station, interactive slavery experience and response area, and much more.

Tickets are on sale now:
$15 online
$20 at the door
$7 students with valid ID

To submit artwork, purchase tickets, find opportunities to volunteer, view a list of items that need to be donated, or for more information visit the event website at www.myhandshaveavoice.org or contact Melissa Strauss at Mstrauss@godaid.org.

Ticket proceeds and art sales help to support the efforts of Giving Children Hope to alleviate the global and public health issues of human slavery.

Event Site: http://www.myhandshaveavoice.org
For the event video, and other videos from our sponsors: Here

Here is some information on Naomis Village Orphanage…please pass it on, post it to your FaceBook, MySpace, Tumlbr, Twitter, blog, etc., and tag your friends. Help us come together again as a community of individuals with a purpose.

Naomi means “beautiful, pleasant, and delightful”. Naomi’s Village Orphanage will be built on a 5-acre piece of land located in Maai Mahui, Kenya. Maai Mahui is a 20-minute drive from Kijabe down into the valley. It is located along a major trade route known as the AIDS highway that links Nairobi to Kampala. As a principal truck stop on that road, the village has high rates of prostitution and AIDS. It is estimated that in Kenya 1.1 million children are orphans with the number expected to continue to rise. Naomi’s Village is expected to house as many as 110 children, both male and female. We have had actual plans drawn up by a Kenyan architect who designed another children’s home in the area. The orphanage will have running water and electricity and will have a security fence around the periphery, since this is a high crime area. Children who are school age will attend the Maai Mahui Primary School, which is within walking distance. The plans for our orphanage also call for a large common room for meetings, services, and presentations. Boys will be housed in an area entirely separate from the girls’ wing. In addition, the plans include living space for visiting teams as they come to serve and minister to the children. There will also be offices and living space for those who permanently administrate the orphanage. Medical and surgical care can easily be provided by nearby AIC/Kijabe Hospital and AIC/CURE Hospital.

It is our intent that this will be a full time orphanage providing food, clothing, shelter, and education for both children orphaned by the death of parents and abandoned at birth (both common scenarios). There is actually a nursery in the plans to accommodate infants. Elisha and Esther Gachoka own the land and share our vision for the orphanage.

We still need to raise approximately $50,000.

HOPE from Veritas Fashion on Vimeo.

“The silence that surrounds children affected by HIV/AIDS and the inaction that results is morally reprehensible and unacceptable. It the situation is not addressed, and not addressed now with increased urgency, millions of children will continue to die, and tens of millions more will be further marginalized, stigmatized, malnourished, uneducated, and psychologically damaged.”-Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF

Check out the Veritas website at www.liveveritas.com.