Happenings Sacred Land at Saatchi Gallery
This week, the Saatchi Gallery played host to Sacred Land/Yvy Katu, an extraordinary one-night celebration of art, music, and philanthropy in support of Amazon conservation. Curated by Daniella Celine Williams and Giulietta Bateman, the event spotlighted the Amazon as both a cultural treasure and a vital ecological lifeline. Produced by Planethon-365 in partnership with the Amazonia Fund Alliance, the evening saw over 300 invited guests, including Lady Victoria Harvey, Julian Mylchreest (Vice Chair of Planethon-365), Ingo Othala, Alison Jackson, Martha Freud, and Daniel Lismore.
Works on display offered a masterclass in visual storytelling, weaving narratives that celebrated the Amazon’s natural beauty while confronting its fragility. The live auction, a centrepiece of the night, saw several standout pieces snapped up quickly—each bid a step toward preserving the rainforest’s future.
The auction, conducted by Lord Dalmeny of Sotheby’s, included a rare 260-million-year-old Claudiosaurus fossil, a spot on a three-week Bhutan trek led by mountaineer Adriana Brownlee, a partially mineralised Sub Fossil Oak tree and sculpture, a piece by Conor Mccreedy, a jungle-themed painting by graffiti-inspired artist Angel Ortiz, a painting titled Planethopia by Daniella Williams, and a personalized perfume experience by Hollywood’s perfumer Azzi Glasser.
Notable pieces include Amazonian tribal paintings by Olivier Mourao, sculptures by Conrad Shawcross, kinetic woodwork by Juan Alberto Ripoll, Lichtenberg drawings by Douglas White, a 2,000-year-old wooden sculpture by Christian Eduard Asuncion Neuenschwander, and photographic series by Victor Moriyama and Diana Gomez. Other artists include David Yarrow, Rupert Muldoon, and emerging talents such as Lily Lewis, Daniella Williams, and Arnaud Bourgain.
“For every 50,000 pounds we raise through art sales and donations at this wonderful event at the Saatchi Gallery, we can help protect and save a piece of Amazon rainforest the size of Hyde Park plus Green Park plus Kensington Gardens here in London. And that would be amazing!” – Julian Mylchreest, Vice Chair of Planethon 365.
The funds raised will directly support grassroots organizations such as SOS Amazonia, Amazonia Alerta, and Mothers of the Amazon, who are working tirelessly to combat deforestation, empower Indigenous communities, and protect this vital ecosystem.