"The abandoned piano" Photograph by Mario Boccia

Closed

Ended:June 20th 2021, 12:00pm EDT

Winner: fabiana.martini

€325($347 USD)

Charity percentage

77%

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Charity percentage

77%

The Prize

Dimensions 30x40 cm.

Sarajevo, March 20, 1996:

The war was over and the city reunited under the Dayton Accords. You could go anywhere, even where before there were "the others". A girl accompanied me to a house in the Grbavica neighborhood, in the area controlled by the Bosnian Serbs. She had spent the 1395 days of the siege on the other side, but she knew that house well. She was serious and silent, perhaps more in awe than worried.

The house was empty, but there were signs that soldiers had been there. We were one step away from the front line.

There was only a baby grand piano left in the house.

She hoped to have news of a friend who lived there, but there was no one to ask. "We learned to play together on that piano," she told me.

Lance Henson, Cheyenne poet, wrote a poem after seeing this photo: “the abandoned piano”. After listening to me, he asked me: "Mario, who are the natives of Bosnia?"

“The abandoned piano”

music is a dark sound

where the sorrow of the world

cannot forget itself

it is a siren lost upon a tumultuous sea

in a time of danger and despair

as sudden as an eye captured

in the forgotten frame

of a photograph

music is a dark sound

yet even hope prevails

even if it is a lone piano

in a war ravaged room

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The Cause

The aim of ResQ Onlus is to save the lives of castaways in the Mediterranean - often men, women and children attempting to escape conflict or serious humanitarian crises – using a rescue ship that lends its support to the operational civilian fleet. The association was set up at the end of 2019 by a group of friends and today has almost 600 members and thousands of donors who have joined forces to offer a concrete response to the humanitarian emergency that has been unfolding in our waters for many years. Following the Lampedusa shipwreck in October 2013, there have been at least 20 thousand deaths in the Mediterranean (and the numbers are certainly higher because many victims are never found). Since the beginning of this year, at least 500 people have already lost their lives attempting to cross this stretch of water.

We are working towards going to sea to carry out our first rescue mission in the summer of 2021. ResQ’s ship will be about 40 meters long, weighing between 450 and 500 tons, and will be fully equipped for rescue missions. On board the ship twill be a crew comprising professionals and specialized volunteers: seafarers, rescuers, doctors and nurses, cultural mediators, as well as the chance to host journalists and photojournalists who can document events.

We are very nearly ready but we need everyone’s help for the final push. We are looking a contribution that will help us to push the ship towards its launch, to fill the hold and the galley, to set sail and navigate the sea. The “C’è una nave” campaign will give everyone the chance to “board” ResQ by taking part in the CharityStars auctions and the crowdfunding initiative on the association’s website.

Website

resq.it

Item #P56449

In condition as donated.

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