Artist Sacha Jafri donates three priceless items to 100 Million Meals charity art auction

British Artist Sacha Jafri, holder of the Guinness World Record for ‘The Largest Art Canvas in the World’, has contributed three priceless artworks to the in-person live auction that will be held on Saturday, 24th April, 2021, at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira in Dubai.

Proceeds of the auctioned items will go towards the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign that aims to provide food support to individuals and families in underserved communities across 30 countries across the world during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Jafri said, "As an artist and humanitarian, I am honoured to be supporting such a fantastic cause as the 100 ‘Million Meals’ campaign, which, in line with the UN, aims to end world hunger by 2030, focusing on countries very dear to my heart within the continents of Africa, South America and the regions of the Middle East, India, Indonesia and the wider area of South East Asia. I am delighted and forever inspired and motivated to do whatever I can to be able to help with this devastating and heart-wrenching global crisis. With love, effort, sacrifice, and empathy, this pain and injustice can be healed and together we can end world hunger."

"It is so devastating to think that hunger and malnutrition ends more child lives than any other disease worldwide. This must change, we must stop with the nonsense of judgement, discrimination, selfishness, and greed; we must unite to do all that we can to end world hunger and all this pain and suffering around the world. One World, One Soul, One Planet," he added. "To live in a world where a mother abandons God’s greatest and most sacred gift, her child, because she can’t afford to feed him or her, is so heart breaking. We need to change this, and we need to change it now. Let’s make this difference, and let’s unite in one huge effort to enable the whole world to smile and breathe together as one."

Winner of The GGF ‘World Artist of the Year’, Jafri is widely regarded as one of the world's most celebrated living artists and humanitarians, having raised over USD 135 million for various children’s charities around the world. ‘The Journey of Humanity’, sold in auction for a record breaking USD 62 million, now puts Jafri’s masterpiece as the 2nd most expensive painting ever sold by a living artist.

Jafri’s first donated item for the ‘100 Million Meals’ charity art auction is the clothes he wore while creating his record-breaking painting ‘The Journey of Humanity’ – which he created in the Ballroom of Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai, painting 20 hours a day for eight months from February through October 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Jafri’s second donation is a largescale oil on canvas work titled ‘A New Hope – A Child’s Prayer’, depicting one little girl’s prayer, and our children’s hope for a better future. Celebrating the UAE’s 50th anniversary and its groundbreaking journey to space, the first-ever in the Arab world, the painting uniquely features handprints and signatures of international celebrities who support the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign, including Eva Longoria, Conor McGregor, Boris Becker, Huda Kattan, Shilpa Shetty, Steve Harvey, Jaqueline Fernandez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.

Created in collaboration with Hollywood Legend Will Smith, Jafri’s third donated piece is his Canvas-Panel (just under 5meters by 3meters) that led him to create his record-breaking painting ‘The Journey of Humanity’.

The auction's centrepiece will be a invaluable piece of Al Kaaba cover (Kiswa), embroidered in gold and silver, donated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. The live auction will also showcase rare artworks by many of the art world’s greatest masters, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Henry Moore, and David Hockney.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) is organising this auction along with a virtual charity art auctions to raise funds to provide food aid for people in need in 30 countries throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

Launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign is organised by MBRGI, in cooperation with the UN World Food Programme, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment, Food Banking Regional Network, and humanitarian and charity institutions in beneficiary countries.