Victoria Beckham and Uma Thurman add their shine to Aids charity’s expanding power
UPDATE: Amfar’s glitzy night offers Warhol and Tracey Emin works, and raises US$4 million to fight the disease
The rich, the famous and the beautiful descended upon Shaw Studios on Saturday evening for a glitzy, coveted party: the American Foundation of Aids Research (Amfar) charity gala.
Lulled by Lang Lang on the piano, philanthropists mingled with Uma Thurman, Victoria Beckham, Adrien Brody and scores of other celebrities while star auctioneer Simon de Pury urged them to bid generously for artwork that included a neon work by Tracey Emin – who was also there – and photographs of Andy Warhol taken in Hong Kong.
Kevin Frost, chief executive officer, had hoped that selling 200 more tickets this time would help raise more money in the auction. But by the end of the evening, the final tally was around US$4 million, the same as last year. It was still double the amount reached in its February New York gala, attended by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. The Warhol photographs fetched US$190,000 while Emin's I Fell in Love Here was sold for US$120,000.
At 6.30pm, guests started arriving at the Shaw Studios in Tseung Kwan O to take their seats at tables that cost up to HK$500,000.
Thurman looked elegant in a simple black dress. A willowy Beckham almost smiled, abandoning her signature pout for the cameras after a particularly successful week in Hong Kong.
