On November 14 of 1996, in Rome, at the Roof Garden of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, within the event  “From Welfare to WellBeing: Eating Art, Get the Best from Your Food, Food for All”, staged by Organizing Committee of the Consortium for the WellBeing  in the 21^st Century, on the occasion of  the FAO World Food Summit, Plexus International launched the Open Call for an Art World Bank, symbolically located in the island of Goree, Dakar. 

The island of Goree, Senegal, site of the historical House of the Slaves is identified as ideal simbolic  site of The World Art Bank.  In Goree will be open should be open a multimedia showroom of the website of the Bank which will generate economic tourists revenues and it will promote the conservation of the site of Gorèe.  Works of art should be sold with the collaboration of partners like Rotary International, Lions International, Credit Cards Company International Courier Companies,  specialised websites in art auction, Insurance Companies, Airlines, Computers and Software Industries, Foundations,  etc. The proposal of a World Art Bank, with its symbolical setting in the island of Goree, is the final outcome of Plexus International efforts started in 1984 in the Lower East Side of New York with the Open Call "In Order to Survive Jazz" and continued in 1986 with the metaphoric voyage of an art slave ship travelling from the New York City towards Goree, via Sardinia. Plexus International is an international movement of artists, scientists, and community intellectuals. It has realized numerous large, international, collaborative,  cross-cultural,  multi-art events and has played a seminal role in the conception of the Well Being Consortium's project.

The purpose of the World Art Bank, as a non profit community-based on-line project, will promote the trade on internet of artworks from all the world.  As a contribution to a broader poverty reduction strategy, people-centered, focused on “culture in sustainable development”, the Art Bank will finance directly:

• the development of community-based nutritional well being educational projects, conducted with the technical collaboration of the FAO Food and Nutrition Division,  in the most poor countries;
• the development of a micro-credits lending programme to help art productions (canvas, brushes, colors, etc) of unknown and poor artists and masters of art traditions in developing countries and in most disadvantaged communities around the world;
• the promotion of the conservation of Goree, at risk of high littoral corrosion, with a world cultural heritage relevance.

54 art works from 30 artists were donated in support of it. 

The artists were: Michele Rosa, Pelszer, Baldo Deodato,  Pilar Aguirre, Minou Amirsoleimani, Marcello Brizzi, Carlo Cusatelli, Eleonora del Brocco, Elisabetta Diamanti, Venera Finocchiaro, Giorgio Fiume, Nicola Froggio Francica, Volker Klein, Roberto Marino, Raffaello Paiella, Mario Palmieri, Mario Paoletti, Gabriella Porpora, Micaela Serino, Vadoody Soheila,  Ilir Zefi, Maria Pia Marsala e Sandro Dernini, Fabrizio Bertuccioli, Valerio Immi,  Sabrina Ceccobelli, Franco Lao-Tan.

The Bank project should be highly decentralised to operate in developing countries through a network of local NGOs, selected for their integrity and capacity of an effective service delivery.  Local artists and masters of art traditions will be gradually hosted, free of charge, in the website with address, curriculum vitae, information and images of their artworks and artistic interactive participation.  Local NGOs will be in charge to collect art works documentation of high quality for the website, to collect the original artwork to be sold and to ship it after it is sold. Artworks, before to be sold for guarantee, should be collected only for the short time of the auction  at the FAO regional offices around the world.  All net revenues from art work sales will be shared between artists, projects to be financed and Bank management. A fund-raising program for the overall Bank activities will be developed as well art shows, events, symposia, etc. with private and public sponsors.