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Paul McCartney unites 61 artists to create original work in aid of War Child
Genieve Figgis, Alvaro Barrington, Joshua Donkor, Sanya Kantarovsky, Aleah Chapin, Anne Rothenstein and George Underwood are among the visual artists responding to Paul McCartney’s ‘Band on the Run’ lyrics to raise funds for the specialist charity for children affected by conflict
Sixty-one artists have created original work inspired by a Paul McCartney lyric in aid of War Child.
For the third edition of Sound & Vision – which began as a similar project, sparked by the David Bowie lyric back in 2024 – artists including Genieve Figgis, Alvaro Barrington, Joshua Donkor and Sanya Kantarovsky have created new work in response to the ‘Band on the Run’ lyric, 'Well the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun'.
The pieces will be auctioned on 27 October 2026 to raise money for children affected by war worldwide.
The evocative lyric was selected by McCartney, who has been a supporter of War Child since he took part in The Help Album alongside Blur, Radiohead and Oasis, back in 1995.
Gemma Peppe, curator of Sound & Vision and founder of AOAP Projects, says: 'The artists from the third edition of Sound & Vision have had a lot of fun with Paul McCartney’s lyric, "Well the rain exploded with a mighty crash...”. Every artist has taken great care to produce a piece worthy of this year’s legendary musical artists, resulting in a body of fabulous artwork that will no doubt raise a lot of money for War Child and the important work they do.'
SOUND & VISION 2026 – FULL ARTIST LIST
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Carl Randall, Split Satoshi
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of War Child)
Joshua Donker, Reflected Legricus
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Marcus Hope, Burning Lies
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Nana Wolke, Giving You up
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alexandrea Beteeva, The World Began To Settle Down
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Abigail MGinley, Our Lady of Steel
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Mercedes Lucy, I Lift The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alvaro Barrington, Sunset for P
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Fletcher Sibthorp, Sun Falling
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Graham Fink, The Last Beautiful Thing
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Marcelle Hanselaar, There Is Always Hope II
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Christina, Niederberger, The Rain Exploded With A Mighty Crash As We Rose With The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Joshua Donker, Aburi Sunset
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Elizabeth Power, The Wind Changed
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Heidrun Rathgeb, Sunrise In Oria
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Megan Rea, We Fell Into The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Charlie Billingham, We Fell Into The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Helena Minginowicz, Wildfire
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Max Renneisen, Having Fun In The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Anna Pakosz, Xica
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Matt Bollinger, Sun Spots
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Sanya Kantarovski, Man Child
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Anna Pakosz, 351
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Joseph Black, Sow
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Matthew Clifton, Postcard from Blackpool
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Nick Grindrod, Northern Song
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Elizabeth Dimitroff, Untitled
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alice Kettle, Sun Burst
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Ralf Kokke, Bitten by the Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Tahnee Lonsdale, Guardians
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Graham Fink, The Last Beautiful Thing
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Andrew Torr, The Musician's House
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Georgie Huxley, It Was Written That I Would Love You From The Moment I Opened My Eyes
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Jenni Hiltunen, Desert Love
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Natalie Wadlington, Sparrow Near Window
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Joseph Black, Reap
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
George Underwood, Hope You're Having Fun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Mercedes Lucy, I Calm The Rain
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alice Kettle, Sun Burst
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Grace Lee, Untitled
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Genieve Figgis, Wings
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Harrison, War Child
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Andrew Maughan, Rachel Corrie, Fifth Grade
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Aleah Chapin, As We Fell Into The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Harrison, War Child
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Victoria Cantons, Untitled (A Song Forever)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Charlie Billingham, A Mighty Crash
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alexandra Beteeva, But We Never Will Be Found
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Xingxin Hu, She Misses Someone She's Never Met
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Grace Lee, Untitled
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Andrew Torr, The Musician's House
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Sunkyung Baek, Rain At The Threshold
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Hamilton, Into The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Alex Hannah, Transition
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Gill Rocca, Falling
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Anne Rothenstien, Storm
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Chloe Barnes, Take Flight
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Colin Murphy, Morning Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Gill Rocca, Falling
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Hamilton, In The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Rhys Jones, Well The Rain Exploded With A Mighty Crash
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
David Rhys Jones, As We Fell Into The Sun
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Zoe Hawk, Storms Ahead
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Holly Rowlett, Evening In June
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Salvatore Fiorello, Interval
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Anaja Hvastija Gaia, At The Edge On An Unfinished Summer
(Image credit: Various artists, in aid of Warchild)
Charlotte Gunn is a writer and editor with 20 years experience in journalism, audience growth and content strategy. Formerly the Editor of NME, Charlotte has written for publications such as Rolling Stone, CN Traveller, The Face and Red.
