World Art Day was born recently from a concerted effort by the General Assembly of the International Association of Art to promote and support art, artists, and art-lovers. Every year on the 15th of April, countries all over the globe prepare to celebrate the arts in all their mediums, be they visual and digital arts, sculpture, music, literature, theatre, or films. Let's take a look at the story behind the World Art Day and how you can take advantage of it!
The 15th of April was proclaimed as “World Art Day” during the 17th General Assembly of the International Association of Art (known as the Association internationale des arts plastiques in French). The origins of the association date back to the mid-20th century, when 23 governments and 48 artist associations from 19 countries, with the support of UNESCO, got together to form the AIAP/IAA. Famous artists like Miró, Braque, Delaunay, Magritte, Vasarely, Soto, Cesar and many others expressed their support to the newly created association. The date itself was set to honour the birth of Leonardo da Vinci, a multi-faceted artist, painter and sculptor but also an innovator in the fields of philosophy and mathematics - as such, his birthday was truly the perfect choice to commemorate the role of art in our contemporary society, with its complex artistic, social and political layers. Since 2012, the national committees of the IAA and many other organisations around the globe - including galleries, museums, art centers, universities, and independent artists - have organised activities in celebration of World Art Day. The aim, as President of IAA World Rosa Maria Burillo Velasco stated, is to “permit to all the artists and art lovers of the world, to feel the power and the preciousness of art simultaneously and let all of us breathe its importance for all nations of the World.”
There are many ways to celebrate this World Art Day within your community - here are a few things you can do, with friends, family, and loved ones! Visit an Art Gallery on their e-viewing In this uncertain time, galleries moved online to continue sharing their art. It is likely that local museums and art galleries will offer special discounts and organise educational programmes and conferences. Take advantage of them to learn, to deep-dive into the life and style of a new artist that you didn’t know about, and to re-evaluate the importance of each artistic medium... Support Artists Ideally, this should be done year-round! Independent artists are the backbone of our communities, providing valuable art and beauty in what would otherwise be a monotonous world. Take advantage of this day to support them, in person or on social media! In the same vein, you may choose to support a nonprofit organisation that promotes the arts, by volunteering, giving a monthly donation, or attending their events - click here to see a few. Buy That Piece You’ve Been Eyeing.. Of course the most obvious way to support local and international artists is to do so economically! Some of them may be struggling to make a living, so investing your dollars in that art or design piece you’ve been eyeing is a great way to honour them on World Art Day. In turn, the Convelio team will be pleased to support you in the transport of your purchases, straight from the artist’s studios or exhibitions to your home!
Whatever you decide to do, the aim is to help spread the enthusiasm and awareness of the arts in your community. Today’s world is a technological one that places a heavy emphasis on maths and engineering - at Convelio we value these fields, having leveraged them to develop a proprietary algorithm capable of instantly calculating shipping prices for our most frequent destinations. However, our solution is tailored specifically to art market players, recognising that their creativity has a vital role to play in our society. When we ship a delicate Picasso ceramic, or a modernist masterpiece by Chagall, or a hyper-realist sculpture by Carole Feuerman, we recognise their importance to our culture and their unparalleled socio-political impact. We know that, without the arts, much of our history, expression and culture would be virtually nonexistent.