Charity art auction for Bethune House, a refuge that helps Hong Kong domestic helpers

Dozens of artists have rallied behind Bethune House Migrant Women’s Refuge by donating nearly 50 pieces for a charity auction aimed at helping the 39-year-old Hong Kong institution stave off the threat of imminent closure.

A live auction of four works by two migrant domestic workers and two prominent Hong Kong artists, Luke Ching Chin-wai and “Frog King” Kwok Man-ho, will take place on February 21 at Wyndham Social, in Central.

All the works for auction are on view at the arts and culture space until February 23. Bids for the silent auction will be accepted online until the exhibition, “Togetherness: Two Pillars, One Shelter” – a powerful show of camaraderie – ends.

Works by professional artists are shown alongside impressive creations by migrant domestic workers who rarely have a chance to show off their talent, such as the members of Guhit Kulay, a Filipino migrant artist collective founded in Hong Kong in 2017 and named after the Tagalog words for “line” and “colour”.

Among them is Laguna-born Jonalyn Molina, who has worked in Hong Kong for seven years. Her Igorot Warriors is a lifelike portrait of an indigenous Igorot man.