Online applications are invited for the UN OHCHR International Contest for Minority Artists 2024. The last date of application is February 15, 2024.
About the Contest
On the occasion of the 31st Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Minorities on December 18, 2023, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the non-governmental organizations Minority Rights Group International and Freemuse launched the 2024 Edition of the International Contest for Minority Artists, with a focus on the theme of Memory in the Present.
The 2024 Edition of the International Contest will shed light on the role and work of artists in the process of memorialization in different countries and contexts, and give visibility to the narratives, histories, and memories expressed through arts by minority individuals and communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must identify themselves as belonging to a national, ethnic, religious, or linguistic minority, in accordance with the 1992 UN Minorities Declaration.
- Applicants can be of any nationality or stateless.
- All art formats are eligible, there are no limitations on style or medium. Submissions must however be in electronic format.
- All artworks focusing on the recognition of minority histories and memory in the present as a theme are eligible.
- Application to the contest is free of charge; there is no application and no facilitation fee. Efforts to impose charges for application should please be reported to: ohchr-minorities@un.org.
- Submissions of collaborative works by multiple minority artists are welcome.
- The work submitted must have been made by the applicant(s) or must be the result of collaborative efforts in which the applicant is included.
- The artwork must be submitted in digital format.
How to Apply?
Interested artists can register via this link.
Note: Artists who identify as belonging to a minority are invited to submit high-quality electronic images of up to five works of art related to minorities and memory in the present.
Application Deadline
Applications will be accepted from December 18, 2023, to February 15, 2024.
Awards
Applications submitted by February 15, 2024 the latest will be assessed by a dedicated Judges Panel composed of independent experts from the field of arts, culture, minority rights, and human rights. The Judges Panel will select three minority artists or art projects to receive non-hierarchical awards, and one minority artist or art project to receive the Minority Youth Artist Award (artists aged between 18 and 24). The Judges Panel can also grant honorable mentions.
The award winners will be publicly announced in November 2024, during a Ceremony organized in Geneva, Switzerland. On this occasion, an exhibition and a catalog featuring the awarded artists will be publicly launched. The ceremony will be followed by a series of in-person events in Geneva, including with public schools, human rights, and cultural institutions.
