HELP US FREE PINO DARKO

Dear friends, we ask you to HELP US FREE our member Pino, aka DARKO, who, at 80 years old and with serious health problems, is forced to wash dishes every night at a restaurant in the Rialto area of Venice, instead of dedicating himself to his splendid painting. Your support for our fundraiser will not only give our colleague new dignity, but will also allow our TAPU SINGOLARE space to remain open to the public for much longer. This means contributing to the redevelopment of the Piave neighborhood in Mestre, which is experiencing a period of severe social decline. A space like ours can offer an alternative to the discomfort that characterizes it, especially in the late evening hours.

You may be wondering why you should help us and what benefits your donation will bring to our project. The answer is very simple and straightforward: because Tapu is a transparent association, founded with the aim of discovering, supporting, and promoting independent and unique artists who find themselves operating in conditions of economic and social marginalization.

It may seem like little to you; you may think that promoting someone's creative talent isn't really necessary and that there are other priorities in life. However, we have discovered that for many people, it is precisely the lack of a platform that helps them express their creative side that makes them feel unwell. What we offer our members is not only being part of a collective of artists, but, above all, exploring and developing their creative potential.

DARKO

What we have seen, over these 12 years of work, is that the impact on our members' quality of life is immeasurable. Although we are first and foremost a cultural association, the impact on people living in isolation and marginalization, often in a state of social degradation, is significant. This is evidenced by a whole series of significant achievements that many of us have reached by actively participating in our initiative. For example, Lia, who couldn't leave the house due to a series of debilitating social phobias, gradually overcame many of her fears and is now one of our collective's most interesting spokespeople. Or Stefano, who managed to graduate high school at 40, or Francesco, who lived cooped up at home for 33 years, but since joining our association has finally been able to take a bus on his own and now gets around without a problem. And finally, Tiziano, a formidable 70-year-old painter, always considered the village's madman, after the solo exhibition we organized right where he lives, revealed a side of himself and his talent that none of his fellow villagers expected. And then there are many other small achievements that we won't recount here to avoid making the text too long.

So, to sum up: Tapu promotes creativity, and by doing so, improves the lives of its members.

Finally, a space of our own:

Over the years, we've participated in many group exhibitions, almost always organized by others. However, we've suffered from the lack of a home of our own—that is, a space managed and dedicated to singular, independent artists. We've never had a home, primarily because our financial resources have always been insufficient, but also because the right opportunity has never presented itself.

TAPU BOIS (Darko's 79th birthday)

But this year, our perseverance has paid off, and we've finally found the ideal location. A space that's not overly large, but perfect for both a workshop and an exhibition space. It's a beautiful place, and we were given a rent that we can afford. (I remind you that almost all members live solely on their disability pension, and any proceeds from the sale of their works (unfortunately very rare) go directly to the artist, who decides whether or not to donate a portion to the association.) In any case, over the years we've worked hard to raise financial support from various supporters and by participating in a few initiatives. Although the harvest has been meager, we've still managed to save some money, which we used to pay the first year's rent and other expenses to adapt the space to our needs.

We've called this place TAPU SINGOLARE and it's located in Venice-Mestre, at Via Premuda 5a, a side street off the infamous Via Piave, which is notorious for crime and neglect. However, for us, opening an art gallery run by disabled artists in such an area adds value to our initiative.

In some way, and in our own way, we believe and try to contribute to the redevelopment of this area of the city. It's not at all ugly; on the contrary, for us artists, it's very stimulating and lively.

TAPU BOIS

This, in short, is us. However, we invite you to visit us to learn more about us and our project.

The reason for our request for help:

But the main reason for our request stems from the urgent need to help one of our members, a formidable artist who, at the age of eighty and with bad knees and back, is forced to wash dishes every night in a restaurant in Venice. He is forced to do so due to a very difficult family situation, which he tries to cope with as best he can, without ever complaining—even though he has every right to do so. Our friend's name is PINO, aka DARKO, and his paintings are extremely lively and express a cheerful and jovial spirit, so much so that they seem to belong to a much younger person.

Over the years, we've tried to help Darko in every way possible, but selling his paintings alone doesn't guarantee the financial stability he desperately needs. Some time ago, we offered him a loan, but he categorically refused, not wanting to burden the association, especially during this period when we've begun a new chapter in our adventure and we have many more expenses to cover. So we offered him a job for Tapu.

Our lovely DARKO!!!

His job would be to keep the gallery open and, in his present time, dedicate himself to what he loves most: painting. It would be wonderful for us to not only lend him a hand and free him from a job that is destroying him, but, above all, to allow him to return to his splendid painting. He loved this proposal and would be thrilled to work for Tapu. Furthermore, it would free him not only from the physical strain of standing eight hours a night, but would also allow him to freely and independently decide his own schedule and organize it based on his family and health needs. In short, it would be a solution that would make everyone happy.

The only problem is guaranteeing him sufficient reimbursement to meet his needs. The sum isn't high; in fact, I think it will be amusing to many that someone his age would suffer like this for just €3,000 a year, yet it's roughly what Darko earns washing dishes, and we'd like to guarantee him this before he leaves his job at the restaurant.

Unfortunately, as we explained earlier, we're currently unable to afford this expense because our association is still too small and we can barely cover basic expenses (rent, utilities, and promotion, which are the three main expenses).

So, to FREE DARKO, we desperately need your help. Without it, we can't do it.

In addition to Darko's contribution, we would need to add the cost of motorizing the shutter, which can currently only be raised by hand. Due to his bad knees and a herniated back, it's impossible for him to open it. We've tried several times, but we've seen that the effort is truly excessive and the risk of injury is too high.

So, to free DARKO, we would need €4,500: €3,000 per year as compensation (in the form of reimbursement of expenses) for Darko, and €1,500 (see estimate) for the motorization of the shutter.

We don't believe this is an amount impossible to raise, but as we've already explained, it's impossible for us at the moment. However, with everyone's contributions, we're confident we can raise it.

Thank you for reading, and come visit us!