An eye for an eye, or in this case, help for thousands of eyes in exchange for the image of one as a closeup of Javier Bardem’s iris is auctioned for an organisation that restores sight to people in the developing world.
“Being able to see, to hear, to touch, to feel: these are things that we don’t really appreciate until we lose them,” said the Oscar-winning actor. “Regaining access to everything you feel through seeing, which has such an impact on our emotions and sensibility, is an emotional and spiritual transformation.”
He said that is why he has donated the striking image to Ojos del Mundo (Eyes of the World), which will auction the photograph as part of a new fundraising campaign, Iris of the World.
Ojos del Mundo was founded in Barcelona in 2001 and is dedicated to treating avoidable blindness – such as cataracts – through direct intervention and by training local people to continue the work, with projects treating Saharawis in refugee camps in Algeria, as well as in Mali, Bolivia and Mozambique.
In the past 20 years, it has restored the sight of more than 37,000 people and trained 13,000 Indigenous specialists.
The image will be sold as a unique, digital non-fungible token (NFT) and a photographic print authenticated by the actor.
At the launch of the campaign, Anna Barba, director of Ojos del Mundo, said that as well as raising funds, the foundation wanted to raise awareness of avoidable blindness, adding that 90% of visually impaired people live in the world’s poorest regions, and 55% are women.
“Javier has been very generous in sharing with us something as personal and exclusive as his iris. It’s a mark of identity that has borne witness to special moments that can now become a part of anyone who bids for this inspiring and original photograph. Javier’s eyes will open other eyes.”
According to the International Agency for the Prevention…
