MORE than 900 pieces of artwork went on display at the annual Twitter Art Exhibition - and York was this year's selected city.

The annual event takes place in a different city across the world to raise money for charity, and for the very first time, this year came to York, held at the Hiscox Building.

Each year, artists from around the globe submit post-card sized artwork, which is sold for £30 to raise money for a nominated charity. This year the chosen charity was Malton-based, Encephalitis Society, which supports people affected by the neurological condition.

On Saturday June 26, around 130 artists and supporters of the charity gathered at the building in the city to view the exhibit for the very first time before shopping for pieces.

The event sent ripples across the art world as it was live streamed, and artists watched their work being viewed and purchased. The following day, the exhibit opened to the general public - and over the weekend alone, over 300 pieces of artwork were purchased.

Dr Ava Easton, chief executive of the Encephalitis Society, said: “It has been a humbling experience to see first-hand the sheer scale of support for this event, and ultimately the Encephalitis Society. The time and dedication from these talented artists is invaluable and not only have they raised money for our life-saving work, but they’ve raised awareness about a devastating condition which can affect absolutely anyone.

“We are very grateful to each and every artist, customer and also to the whole team at the Twitter Art Exhibit for choosing us as their beneficiary charity. Finally, I’d like to say a very special thank you to our own ambassador, Mathew Bose, for curating a fiercely impactful exhibition.”

Mathew Bose is a York-based actor, artist and philanthropist, who has worked on shows including It’s a Sin and Emmerdale. He’s one of the ambassadors for Encephalitis Society and this year, the curator of the Twitter Art Exhibition.

Mathew said: “The motto of the Twitter Art Exhibition is 'through art, we can change the world' and this weekend, we really saw this come to life. Artists from 49 countries including USA, India, Canada, Germany, were all connecting and supporting each other.

"We saw customers purchasing art and then engaging with the artist directly. We even saw talented artists share their work for the very first time and the wave of support and encouragement was incredible.

“I’m immensely proud that York was able to host this event, and I’m delighted that we’ve already sold so much of the artwork. But there are still more pieces available, so please do browse the online exhibit to purchase your own piece of art and support the Encephalitis Society.”