Newington Green art gallery 13TheGallery is presenting a collection of works by emerging Peruvian artist Carla Figallo inspired by her home country, with 25% of all sales throughout the exhibition being donated to Just a Drop.

Carla excels in colour and produces powerful contemporary abstract paintings, often with additional materials making her style distinctive in texture as well as colour; this collection embodies the strong work ethic and relentless drive which are at the roots of Peruvian civilisation.

She has chosen to donate the funds raised from the exhibition towards Just a Drop's project in Misminay, near Cusco in Peru. The remote community was identified as being in desperate need of clean water by Just a Drop's Honorary President, John Blashford Snell, during a recce to Peru in 2012. Just a Drop is now raising funds to provide the village with an improved water source which will increase the availability of potable water for many more families.

The community of Misminay is currently using two reservoirs which give them limited access to water from natural springs, distributed via public sinks. Villagers must queue for water between 4 and 6am each day to gain access to these sinks. After that, the sinks are padlocked and anyone who missed the slot must wait until the next day before getting their share of the water. 

Just a Drop would like to excavate a groundwater gallery (a horizontal tunnel dug into the hillside which will reach an aquifer). Water will then be gravity fed down to the village providing more water for more hours per day, for more families. 

Carla says, “My art has been inspired by the life and colours of my home country, Peru, as well as the countries I have lived in including Italy, Argentina, USA, Spain, UK and Japan; and of course by many of the great abstract artists such as Rothko, Pollock and Kandinsky. 

I decided to do this exhibition in aid of Just a Drop because I feel their mission to provide people with clean, safe water is really important. The funds raised will go towards supporting one of Just a Drop's projects in my home country, the small Peruvian village of Misminay. I think artists have the possibility to help others through their art and I am willing to do so for Just a Drop.”

Fiona Jeffery, Chairman and Founder of Just a Drop says, “We are delighted that Carla has chosen to support Just a Drop in such a unique way, through her work which has been inspired by her Peruvian roots and we are very grateful indeed that 25% of the sales from her exhibition will be donated to our project in Peru. This project will significantly improve the lives of the 1,500 villagers in Misminay, particularly the children who currently suffer from water-related illnesses as a result of the scarcity of clean, safe water to drink. I'd like to personally thank Carla and wish her every success with the exhibition.”

The exhibition will run from 8th- 28th May with a private view on 8 May at 13TheGallery, 13 Green Lanes, Newington Green, London, N16 9BS. To find out more about the exhibition and Carla's work, click here.

Click here to read more about the Just a Drop project in Misminay, Peru.   

For information on this release please contact nicola.swann@justadrop.org or on 020 8910 7019.

Notes to editors:

About Just a Drop – www.justadrop.org

• Launched in 1998, Just a Drop is an international water-aid charity with a very simple plan: to give people clean, safe water and to reduce the number of children dying as a result of water-related diseases.

• Working with local partners, at a grassroots level, we provide clean water and sanitation facilities to some of the poorest communities around the world through the construction of hand-dug and borehole wells, pipelines, hand pumps and latrines and we establish health and sanitation programmes.

• We operate with a handful (5) of staff and an army of volunteers, many of whom are retired military officers and water engineers with extensive experience on global water development projects.

• To date, we have carried out over 130 projects across 31 countries, reaching an estimated 1.5 million people from Afghanistan to Zambia. Fast Water Facts:

• A child dies around every 20 seconds as a result of a water related illness.

• Over 768 million people in the world do not have access to clean, safe water.

• More people in the world own mobile phones than have access to a toilet.