UTOPIA 56

Calais, Dijon, Grande Synthe, Lille, Paris, Renne, Toulouse, Tours, Lorient (France)

Utopia 56 is an organization created in November 2015 in Brittany to supervise the voluntary work which was then deployed in the "jungle" of Calais.
Every day, more than 200 volunteers and hosts are mobilized day and night in 8 branches. They come to the aid of people in exile, as well as those isolated on the street, unconditionally and without distinction of administrative status.
The Utopia 56 branch in Tours has been in existence since 2017 and specializes in access to the rights of unaccompanied minors whose access has been refused by child welfare and who end up on the street.
More than 1,400 young people have thus been able to be sheltered since the creation of the branch.

THE WOODYARD / L'Auberge des Migrants

In winter, wood is a survival issue for the more than 1,000 people living in the streets and informal living areas of the city of Calais.
The Woodyard project has been receiving, cutting and distributing wood in these places of life since 2016. It participates in the emergency humanitarian response aimed at covering the needs of people in exile during the cold season, who are faced with extremely difficult living conditions. Woodyard distributes up to 7 tons of wood per week.
The distributed wood is used for heating, for cooking the food distributed by our structure's partner the Calais Food Collective, for drying clothes, for heating water, etc.

VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK

Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: a protected area with the greatest biodiversity on the entire African continent.

Located in a region that has been deeply affected by the effects of war and armed conflict for over 20 years, Virunga is protected by a dedicated team of over 689 rangers. These local men and women risk their lives daily to save the park's exceptional wildlife, including the last endangered mountain gorillas.

Alongside this essential conservation work, the park is committed to supporting local communities. Virunga has a vision to responsibly harness its natural resources in order to create new opportunities for the four million people who live within a day's walk of its borders.

Focusing on three key areas: hydroelectricity, sustainable agriculture, and fishing, and tourism, Virunga National Park is working towards the economic transformation of the region by creating jobs and reducing poverty rates. This innovative, community-driven approach aims to reduce the pressures that Park Rangers are currently facing from armed groups, illegal poaching, and land encroachment.


Using a gorilla face to illustrate our album "Millions" (by Justin "Justkas" Kasereka) was the trigger to try to implement a system to generate funds for Virunga Park.

- We sold cups bearing the effigy of the gorilla at the Zénith de Saint-Étienne on December 14 & 15, 2019, which generated €5,050.27.
(The Zénith de Saint-Etienne Métropole, Justin Kasereka and AGDL Production also accepted and actively participated in this operation).

- We sold 100 numbered silkscreens representing the face of the gorilla and using ink made from Saint-Étienne charcoal. The smooth running of this operation was notably ensured thanks to Fabien Cornut. Go ahead and watch the webdoc about these serigraphs, which generated €5,850.

JUSTIN KASAKERA

Justin Kasereka alias Justkas is a visual artist based in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa.

When we met in Goma in 2018, we bonded a pretty strong relationship with Justin and his loved ones. We have stayed in touch and we are now helping him by providing him with creative materials. You should know that obtaining certain types of materials when you are in Goma is not an easy thing; beyond an exorbitant cost, the materials are simply not available.

AFA CROHN

AFA Crohn RCH France is the name of the François Aupetit association, the only national association that supports and informs Crohn's and ulcerative colitis patients and their relatives, defends their rights, and funds research.

ECOLE DES FRÈRES CHAPPES

The Chappe School-Museum is a very atypical school from Saint-Etienne, with an original and daring project: to bring urban art back into the school, and to involve artists (visual artists, musicians, street artists, etc.) and children to the joint creation of a "museum" school. This public establishment, which brings together a real social mix within a popular district of Saint-Étienne, has succeeded in making itself known thanks to the intervention of many artists who have been able to create works around projects with the students. For 4 years, more than 25 national and international artists have passed through the Chappe School-Museum and left more than 85 works there.

The idea of conveying a message, sharing ideas around art and concrete creation within the classes really pleased the members of Dub Inc who wanted to participate in their own way, alongside the educational team. The interest is also to participate in local actions close to us.

The actions of the association Collectes et Partages are essentially devoted to helping deprived children in Senegal and Niger through 3 main objectives:
* Food: fighting against malnutrition,
* Education: fighting against illiteracy, renovating and assisting with the creation of classrooms,
* Assistance with nurseries.
The actions of Collectes & Partages aspire to favor long term aid as much as possible.

ANEPOS Action Solidarité Grèce

Since 2009, the artistic and solidarity collective group ANEPOS, based in the Tarn, the Bouches-du-Rhône and in Athens, Greece, has carried out hundreds of actions in Greece in partnership with around forty social collectives which are getting organized in the face of austerity: free self-managed medical dispensaries, mutual aid against evictions, free solidarity kitchens, self-managed social centers, accommodation and support actions for people in exile... One of the highlights is the establishment of a solidarity convoy each year (several dozen trucks) reaching Greece with food, hygiene or baby products, etc.