CHARITY GUMS: Chewing can be conversation too…

People mindlessly grab packs of chewing gum with only one goal – to freshen their breath. However the subject of everyday consumption can be something that has the ability to also connect, entertain and inspire the consumer. Which brings us to the philosophy of CharityGums whose cooperating artists will be featured in the café space of DOX Centre for Contemporary Art.

The project, which was originally launched last year as the company CharityMints.com, is based on the sale of chewing gum presented in an inovative package printed with original graphics that supports non-profit organizations.

The Charities recieve 10% of the price of each pack sold: so far a total of 270,000 crowns has been donated by CharityMints and shared between nine selected organizations over the last year.

CharityMints.com & CharityGums.com provide a forum for dozens of young and skilled artists who, in a world dominated by graphics for advertising, do not have many opportunities to showcase their artistic talent.

With the rapid expansion of the sales network of gums, their creativity is now on display for all to see at more than 200 locations in Prague and other Czech cities at sales points such as cafes, libraries and design shops. Artists are free to select a theme they consider important and by which they want to convey a certain message to the society.

This exhibition is a concise presentation of the artists who participated in the project in its first year. It is also an opportunity for us to thank them for their inspirational ideas and because the philosophy of the CharityGums project is both social responsibility and playful fun, this exhibition itself is presented to you in another novel form.

This time our artists present their creativity using another object of daily use - a common dining platter. The remainder of the exhibition presents a selection of magnified graphics used on our chewing gum packaging.

Among the exhibiting artists will present Alex Böhm, Pavel Botka, Jan Gruml, Pavlína Hňupová, Josefína Jonášová, Petr Korunka, Kamila Matoušová a Štěpán Stránský, Jaromír František Palme, Jan Ignác Říha, Stanislav Setinský, Lucia Šachlová, Adéla Taubelová, Petra Valouchová and Tomas Crow.

After the exhibition, on April 9th, an auction of the exhibits will take place in the café where the proceeds shall be distributed to the non-profit organizations that were supported in 2012.

For more information, please visit www.charitygums.com.