January 27-30 will see the first-ever collection of pottery by the country's finest studio potters, on display and sale at the Hungarian Cultural Centre in the Capital. The proceeds from the exhibition-cum-sale, entitled `Earth For Animals,' will go to the People For Animals (PFA), an organisation that's involved in animal welfare.

The three-day event will showcase the works of some top of the line Indian potters, including Gina Franklin Gupta, Ira Chaudhary, Jyotsna Bhatt, Kristine Michael, Leena Batra, Lekha Bhagat, P Daroz and Ray Meekar.

Getting so many stars together was no easy task. Says Ms Gandhi, who is chairman of the PFA, "The basic idea was to bring together artists who want to contribute for a noble cause. And the artistic community being a generous lot, it's not really difficult to convince them to contribute for an exhibition like this." That seems to be a fair assessment of the artists' attitude. Says Monika Thukral of the Delhi Blue Pottery, who is taking part in the exhibition, "It's all for a noble cause. Let's just hope the exhibition does well," she adds.

She points out that the Bawana cow shelter, which is the largest cow shelter in the area and houses as many as 2,000 cows, and two other animal shelters in the Capital came up as a result of art exhibitions like the present one.

The PFA has been in the news for quite some time now, not just because of its animal welfare activities, but also for its association with celebrities who, says Ms Gandhi, always help to boost sales at exhibitions. Take the Rohit Bal T-shirts, for example, they helped the PFA earn a hefty Rs 18 lakh. Dimple Kapadia's candles earned another Rs 10.5 lakh. Ms Gandhi hopes this exhibition will bring in similar revenue.

Some 5,500 invites have been sent out for the show, which will be launched with a tea party on January 27. The exhibits promise to be a spectacular show of studio pottery, and will include different items ranging from dinner sets and mugs to vases and pots coming all the way from Pondicherry, Mumbai, Kolkata and Vadodara. Prices will range from Rs 100-5,000.

While 50 per cent of the sales will go to the artists, the other 50 per cent will go towards the rescue and rehabilitation of animals from Delhi's streets. Ms Gandhi has an exciting list of clients, which includes the Nandas and the Pauls. The exhibition is being sponsored by Kuoni, Airtel, Neolie Industries, the Jindal group, SIMT and Moolchand Kuber Products (P) Ltd.

Ms Gandhi says, "Animals need more than just love, they need food to eat and a place to live in. PFA takes care of this and more. Raising money for animals is not easy and we are trying our best to do this."