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!
END OF THE NIGHT (breaking dawn), The Psychedelic...
Madeleine Schwinge
open category
In the spirit of the writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who said: 'To build a ship, don't drum up men together to procure wood, assign tasks and distribute work, but teach them the longing for the vast, endless sea', we should tell new narratives for utopias that are attractive enough to set us in motion. What will the world of tomorrow look like? Burnt out, flooded, exploited, largely uninhabitable? Only populated by cyborgs and robots? Dominated by a dictatorial digital system? The artist, curator, and change mentor Madeleine Schwinge advocates daring to create beautiful, sustainable, human blueprints for life. We may allow ourselves to believe in a new, better world - born from the ruins of yesterday, healed of its wounds and conscious of the power of its sensitivity. We deserve to hope that it is possible to create healthy living spaces and communities where people can develop their full potential. It is time to embark! Each one of us and all of us together are challenged to take the first steps of a transformational journey that will lead us into a tomorrow of new possibilities and wonders. Work: Digital print and acrylic on textile, 189 x 143 cm, 2019. How can art catalyze change?: Madeleine Schwinge brings to life a rock band because rock is loud and breaks with rules. It uses improvisation and is telling us new stories. And rock groups have the power to become idols for a new generation. The protagonists of the ever growing band are born out of the amalgam of current international media campaigns that surround us all. Due to the fact, that fashion is mirroring our traditions, role patterns and cultural identity as well as dreams and desires, she is using mostly fashion magazines as source material. The characteristic feature of the band figures is the gesture of playing air guitar. By giving them this pose, the artist creates new campaigns of this time transformation: She frees the models from their given normative postures and inhales new attitudes, which symbolize the starting point into a better tomorrow. Madeleine Schwinge is a conceptual artist, curator and change-mentor. Her interdisciplinary engagement deals with questions of change and identity. It builds on interrelated aspects of art, visual culture, psychology and philosophy. Key elements underpinning her approach include self-construction, memory, narration, curiosity, unfolding the human potential, serendipity, future studies, innovation, andropocene, humanism, cooperation and transformation. Following her strong believe that art is about questioning the status quo in order to move into a better tomorrow, she is exploring new formats of art concepts and combines mixed media, painting, collage, prints, texts and sound pieces with lecture performances and a mentoring program to a 'Gesamtkunstwerk'.
In the spirit of the writer and pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who said: 'To build a ship, don't drum up men together to procure wood, assign tasks and distribute work, but teach them the longing for the vast, endless sea', we should tell new narratives for utopias that are attractive enough to set us in motion. What will the world of tomorrow look like? Burnt out, flooded, exploited, largely uninhabitable? Only populated by cyborgs and robots? Dominated by a dictatorial digital system? The artist, curator, and change mentor Madeleine Schwinge advocates daring to create beautiful, sustainable, human blueprints for life. We may allow ourselves to believe in a new, better world - born from the ruins of yesterday, healed of its wounds and conscious of the power of its sensitivity. We deserve to hope that it is possible to create healthy living spaces and communities where people can develop their full potential. It is time to embark! Each one of us and all of us together are challenged to take the first steps of a transformational journey that will lead us into a tomorrow of new possibilities and wonders. Work: Digital print and acrylic on textile, 189 x 143 cm, 2019. How can art catalyze change?: Madeleine Schwinge brings to life a rock band because rock is loud and breaks with rules. It uses improvisation and is telling us new stories. And rock groups have the power to become idols for a new generation. The protagonists of the ever growing band are born out of the amalgam of current international media campaigns that surround us all. Due to the fact, that fashion is mirroring our traditions, role patterns and cultural identity as well as dreams and desires, she is using mostly fashion magazines as source material. The characteristic feature of the band figures is the gesture of playing air guitar. By giving them this pose, the artist creates new campaigns of this time transformation: She frees the models from their given normative postures and inhales new attitudes, which symbolize the starting point into a better tomorrow. Madeleine Schwinge is a conceptual artist, curator and change-mentor. Her interdisciplinary engagement deals with questions of change and identity. It builds on interrelated aspects of art, visual culture, psychology and philosophy. Key elements underpinning her approach include self-construction, memory, narration, curiosity, unfolding the human potential, serendipity, future studies, innovation, andropocene, humanism, cooperation and transformation. Following her strong believe that art is about questioning the status quo in order to move into a better tomorrow, she is exploring new formats of art concepts and combines mixed media, painting, collage, prints, texts and sound pieces with lecture performances and a mentoring program to a 'Gesamtkunstwerk'.