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Transforming the transaction of art into a strategy to alleviate global poverty.

At Zamaana, we harness the power of the art transaction to address poverty, which impacts three billion people here in the United States and around the world. By connecting emerging artists and art buyers, we generate the resources to invest in people and small businesses, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.
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Art is

It inspires, broadens the mind, and expands our thinking. It creates and strengthens connections - engendering greater communication. It bridges people and cultures throughout space and time. We believe that this greater communication undoubtedly fosters a more compassionate, tolerant, and responsive world.

Zamaana interprets the spirit of art into a creative method of philanthropy.

From every artwork that is sold on our site, we contribute 50% of our commission as a microloan to an impoverished entrepreneur. These microloans are our way of translating the abstract into the tangible - turning the appreciation of art into the building of community. We aim to lift humanity through art and encourage business and opportunity throughout the world.
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"...I'm hoping we can create a change...by being artists...by being what we are."

- Artist Mernie Baker
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We contribute 50% of our commission as microloans to impoverished entrepreneurs. Through Kiva, we’re able to send our loan to an individual in any region of the world.

Recently, we lent to Roumanous from Lebanon.

Click here to read his story.
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The following is an excerpt from our newsletter.
If you want to read more articles like this, please visit our blog, ArtSpill, and sign up onto our mailing list to receive our newsletter.

Photography and Human Rights Deserve a Seat at the Breakfast Table

Newspapers have, for some time, used the 'breakfast table' rule as a litmus test for their photographic content. If a picture would offend or disgust readers as they sat down to read the paper over breakfast, then papers opt not to publish it. When that rule is broken, it's generally for good reason, to bring readers a new awareness of an issue worlds away, to show them something they wouldn't see from their front porch.

Kevin Carter captured this image in 1993 when he photographed a starving Sudanese child inching towards relief, curled tightly into a ball as a vulture perches in the background, ready for a meal. This image won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and became an iconic image against war and famine in Sudan. The photograph is beautiful, well composed with the tension and drama of the child's fate in clear focus. But the image defies viewers.

[Read more]
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Video capability - Soon, you’ll be able to see and hear your favorite artist right on his/her profile page.

Browsing capability – We’re working on an easier way to browse through the artwork and artists on Zamaana.

Building our artist community – Stay tuned for more amazing artists!

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Are you an artist who wants to change the world? If you want to be part of a community with other socially minded artists, sign up!

It’s free to join!