a vbb special fundraiser
Art for Flood Relief

5 - 7:30 pm, Sunday, September 19, 2010
Eldorado Ballroom (Project Row Houses Campus), 2310 Elgin, Houston, TX 77004

At the request of Houston’s arts and activist communities, VBB organized a fundraiser to help the 20 million people affected by the floods in Pakistan. More than 125 people turned up to support the cause and to donate to three Pakistani NGOs Karachi Relief Trust, Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation and the Pakistan Medical Association. At the event, we raised more than $7,000. We will be dispensing with the money on the week of October 11, 2010. If you wish to donate to the cause, please click on the links above.

The show featured:

• work by Pakistani artists including music videos by LAAL, who just released a new song in honor of those affected by the floods; audio recording by novelist Sorayya Khan; images by artist Ilona Yusuf; video slideshow by Designers United for a Cause (D.U.C.K Karachi); and images and videos from fundraisers held by Second Floor Café (T2F);

• live footage by Geo TV, Pakistan’s largest TV station;

• video recordings from journalists, artists and organizations from India, including Satyen K. Bordoloi, Aman Kay Bhadatay Kadam (A People's March for Peace), One World South Asia and Sangat

• remarks by Sissy Farenthold, Josef Helfenstein, Wendy Watriss (from Beijing), Rick Lowe, representatives from the UH-Pakistan Student Association and the Pakistani Consul General;
• music and by DJ AV 

• food by Shahnai restaurant

Audio Statement by Sorayya Khan

Image Collage "Water" by Illona Yusuf

Geo TV Flood Fooatge

Satyen Bordoloi video



For images from the event go to VBB's Flickr site.

This event was co-sponsored by FotoFest, Geo TV, Houston Institute for Culture, Houston Indymedia, Houston Peace and Justice Center, MECA, Pakistan Association of Greater Houston, UH Pakistan Student Association, and Pacifica Radio KPFT 90.1 FM. Special thanks to Project Row Houses for the use of the Eldorado Ballroom.

Read Sehba Sarwar's op-ed published on 9/12/10 at the Houston Chronicle; Read Houston's Chronicle's editorial published 9/13/10.