All the auctioned works will be on display at the pre-auction exhibition at the Museum on the Vistula River in Warsaw. The exhibition will be open from April 8 to May 15, 2022, from 12:00 to 19:00.

The war in Ukraine and the crisis at the Polish–Belarusian border highlight how fundamental the issue of assistance for persons escaping armed conflicts and political persecution is today. The Refugees Welcome auction is devoted to the ideal of equality and a belief that assistance should not be conditioned on race, religion or ethnic or cultural affiliation. Human rights and dignity are inalienable and belong to everyone. The aim of the auction is to raise funds to help those in need regardless of origin or faith.

This year’s auction is special for many reasons. For the first time, the pre-auction exhibition will open at the Museum on the Vistula, the main exhibition space of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, and will last over a month (8 April – 15 May 2022). It will comprise works provided by artists as well as works broadening the narrative of contemporary migrations. Also for the first time, the exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events focusing on the activity of the Ocalenie Foundation, as well as numerous guided tours. Works by more than 70 artists from Poland and abroad will be sold at the auction.

The Refugees Welcome charity art auction will be held on Sunday, 15 May 2022, at 5:00 pm, and the proceeds will go to the Ocalenie Foundation. The artists included in the auction may receive 25% of the sale price of their works, but many of them have waived this right, passing on the entire proceeds to the foundation.