The Bermuda National Gallery is appealing for financial help to organise a special art exhibition designed to highlight global social ills.Eyes on the World/Eyes on Bermuda is designed as a photography-based show, exploring critical issues of social injustice such as violence, child abuse and poverty, with the aim of raising awareness and action.The January show will be divided into three parts: a local angle where the Island’s photographers reflect, a community angle where ordinary people send in images of Bermuda’s problems, and an international component where photographs of various global injustices are displayed.For all that to happen however, the BNG needs to raise $52,275.“We have been struggling financially since 2008, as has everyone,” said BNG director Lisa Howie. “Our exhibitions and education programmes are getting hit really hard by the economy. Bacardi Limited stands out as the only corporate sponsor to our exhibitions, and that is for the Biennial held every other year.”Most BNG corporate sponsors are only donating a small fraction of what they once gave or have cancelled their financial support altogether, she explained.As a result the gallery has had to rely entirely on foundation grants and smaller individual donations. One major reason for the loss of funding is that the new hospital project is hoovering up vast amounts of charity dollars on the Island.“I absolutely believe in the development of the hospital, but in other jurisdictions they fund projects like a new hospital with a national lottery,” said Ms Howie.She said many former BNG donors still verbally support the success of BNG’s educational activities such as a student docent programme and student camera club, but now only want their charity dollars to go to what they deem “necessary”.“I hate the idea that people see art only as an add-on versus being a measure of how strong we are as a people,” Ms Howie said.BNG wants to use the Eyes on the World/Eyes on Bermuda exhibition to highlight such community issues as youth violence, crime and gun control.They want to see discussion, solutions and maybe community healing emerge from the effort.“This is a completely new angle for us to be using a theme of social justice to explore art forms and give back to the community,” said Ms Howie. “This is compared to our usual approach. For example, taking a curatorial question like ‘what is the relevancy of the European Collection in the 21st century?’ and positioning that with contemporary art or the Biennial that thrives on the question of where is art today, locally and globally, or the David White exhibition up right now that tells the story of American impressionists and their visits to Bermuda. They each have a thread that is based on aestheticism rather than on a social issue.“For this exhibition we are starting with society. That is all part of a paradigm shift that is happening for museums who are interested in keeping in step with society. We want to say that the museum is not simply a repository of the found object, but can also be a place where people come to meet, talk and experience a community space.”An American organisation, the Alexia Foundation for World Peace and Understanding, will provide photography for the international portion of the exhibit.The Alexia Foundation was started in 1991 by the parents of 20-year-old Alexia Tsairis. The Syracuse University student was killed in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The New Jersey resident was studying photography at the time of her death.The idea for the exhibition came partly from a conference by the Inter Agency Committee for Children and Families that explored the effects of unaddressed multi-generational trauma on families on Bermuda.A number of charities have put their weight behind the exhibition including the Coalition for the Protection of Children, The Family Centre and the Physical Abuse Centre.“This exhibition has the opportunity to express artistically what so many of us are attempting to do in the social services, social justice field — create opportunities for wellness and empowerment within our community,” said Martha Dismont, executive director of the Family Centre, and chair of IAC. “A visual expression of need, as well as a visual expression of solutions can be very powerful, and I, for one, would love to be part of an initiative that unites us on behalf of the families and youth who need our help.”Senator Kim Wilson, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, said the pursuit of creating a society that is based on principles of justice, equality and solidarity must be at the core of a community’s being.“It is said that a picture speaks 1,000 words … with that, I am excited to be able to endorse the upcoming exhibition Eyes on the World/ Eyes on Bermuda, illustrating the medium of art and photography as a vehicle for social change. It is my hope that this exhibition will inspire not only action and advocacy, but will facilitate local and global citizenry through this purposeful photographic campaign.”For more information visit www.bermudanationalgallery.com or telephone 295-9428.