The Open Call for the Social Art Award 2019 under the topic “We are the People – Peaceful Revolutions” was closed on December 15, 2019. We are very impressed by 558 submissions that were contributed by artists coming from 65 countries across all continents. 

The winners of The Social Art Award 2019 are Narcissa Gold (USA), Melinda Mouzannar (Lebanon) and Bogna Grazyna Jaroslawski (Poland/Germany). The Honorary Mention goes to Kingson Kin Sing Chan (Hong Kong/UK). 

Below you find the artworks, that passed the initial jury round. The public voting took place till 30 December and is a tool to give more public visibility to the topic and the artworks. It does not replace the final jury judgment. There were two wildcards for the most voted artworks that entered the final shortlist

The focus diversity of applications shows that artists are active in the multi-faceted fields of socially engaged art reflecting on wars, genocides, femicides, traumata, violence against refugees, children, women, men, disabled people, LGBTIQs, animals. They share feelings for the planet and its living species, but also showing hopelessness due to complex crises be it climate change (e.g. in regard to water pollution), capitalism, corruption, a violation against human rights, nature, protected national parks. Many of the artists are constantly trying to give a voice to the poorest or empower unheard social groups.

It’s not only about peaceful revolutions, but it’s also about feeling a deep connection and showing love and respect for each other.
Thank you all for sharing your great and inspirational work and look at all the great contributions!

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12888
Kiss Spring Bag
by Kingson Kin Sing Chan
Category: open category
80561
Contest is finished!
https://social-art-award.org/award2019/?contest=photo-detail&photo_id=685
12888
80561
Title:
Kiss Spring Bag

Author:
Kingson Kin Sing Chan

Category:
open category

Description:
Gangsters attacked general citizens indifferently in Yuen Long subway station in Hong Kong on 21 July 2019 during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement (ELAB). Dozens of people were injured and Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) turned a blind eye. This violent incident shocked the whole society with a lot of Hongkongers‘s anger towards the incapability (and suspected cooperation with the gangsters) of the HKPF and also the violence of the gangsters. One web user in LIGHK, a multi-category forum website based in Hong Kong, miswrote a word in a comment that he would like to “kiss” (錫) and not “kick” (踢) their balls (“spring bag”(春袋) in Cantonese slang) and it becomes a famous term and being widespread around Hong Kong. People developed this idea further and used it in the movement such as making of slogan “stop charging or we kiss your spring pocket” (停止衝擊否則錫你春袋). Apart from the catchy phrase and sexual joke, we can never underestimate the value of humour, especially during a difficult time. Professor Philip Zimbardo, the author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil who conducted the famous Stanford prison experiment, expressed the importance of humour that “ ... the failure to use humour to defuse tension or even to bring some reality to an unreal situation...” makes all participants very tensed and stressed and “... humour breaks through the pretensions of person and place.” 5 colours were created and to represent 5 parties that caused great troubles to Hong Kong during the anti-ELAB movement: Blue colour represents a group of so-called “love Hong Kong” protestors who always wear blue t-shirts and conduct violent acts during their “Love Hong Kong“ activities such as teasing off the Lennon wall; Green colour represents the riot Hong Kong police who dressed in green uniforms; Black colour represents the HKPF that local people called them as “dead black cop”(the dirty cop) (死黑警) because of excessive usage of force and breaching of law and regulations such as not displaying their warranty number while they are executing their duties; Grey colour represents the Hong Kong government’s discouraged attitude in solving the conflicts and also the grey-coloured dress code that the Chief Executive Carrie Lam likes to wear; White colour represents the group of gangsters in Yuen Long as all of them were wearing white t-shirts on 21 July 2019 during the terror attack in the station. It is hoped that the usage of stained glass will transfer these devastating feelings into something humorous and also the characteristic of stained glass works as it encourages us to, literally, search for a brighter side so that we can appreciate this world more. How can art catalyze change?: To let more people know about how we fight for freedom and justice.
Description:
Gangsters attacked general citizens indifferently in Yuen Long subway station in Hong Kong on 21 July 2019 during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement (ELAB). Dozens of people were injured and Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) turned a blind eye. This violent incident shocked the whole society with a lot of Hongkongers‘s anger towards the incapability (and suspected cooperation with the gangsters) of the HKPF and also the violence of the gangsters. One web user in LIGHK, a multi-category forum website based in Hong Kong, miswrote a word in a comment that he would like to “kiss” (錫) and not “kick” (踢) their balls (“spring bag”(春袋) in Cantonese slang) and it becomes a famous term and being widespread around Hong Kong. People developed this idea further and used it in the movement such as making of slogan “stop charging or we kiss your spring pocket” (停止衝擊否則錫你春袋). Apart from the catchy phrase and sexual joke, we can never underestimate the value of humour, especially during a difficult time. Professor Philip Zimbardo, the author of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil who conducted the famous Stanford prison experiment, expressed the importance of humour that “ ... the failure to use humour to defuse tension or even to bring some reality to an unreal situation...” makes all participants very tensed and stressed and “... humour breaks through the pretensions of person and place.” 5 colours were created and to represent 5 parties that caused great troubles to Hong Kong during the anti-ELAB movement: Blue colour represents a group of so-called “love Hong Kong” protestors who always wear blue t-shirts and conduct violent acts during their “Love Hong Kong“ activities such as teasing off the Lennon wall; Green colour represents the riot Hong Kong police who dressed in green uniforms; Black colour represents the HKPF that local people called them as “dead black cop”(the dirty cop) (死黑警) because of excessive usage of force and breaching of law and regulations such as not displaying their warranty number while they are executing their duties; Grey colour represents the Hong Kong government’s discouraged attitude in solving the conflicts and also the grey-coloured dress code that the Chief Executive Carrie Lam likes to wear; White colour represents the group of gangsters in Yuen Long as all of them were wearing white t-shirts on 21 July 2019 during the terror attack in the station. It is hoped that the usage of stained glass will transfer these devastating feelings into something humorous and also the characteristic of stained glass works as it encourages us to, literally, search for a brighter side so that we can appreciate this world more. How can art catalyze change?: To let more people know about how we fight for freedom and justice.