2024 Essay, Art, and Multimedia Contest
Attention all students in grades 6-12! Are you passionate about social change and have a talent for writing or art? We have an exciting opportunity for you!
Hindus for Human Rights and Dalit Solidarity Forum are hosting an art, essay, and multimedia contest on the topic of:
“As a South Asian, what traditions of peacemaking do you find inspiring?”
This is your chance to showcase your writing skills or artistic abilities by sharing your admiration for a South Asian peacemaking tradition that has inspired you and can be a role model for peace in our world today. The winning essays will be published by our media partners, providing you with a platform to amplify your voice and share your message with a wider audience.
South Asia and its diaspora, with its rich tapestry of cultures, histories, and traditions, has witnessed both turmoil and tranquility throughout the ages. In the midst of this diversity, there exist profound traditions of peacemaking that have inspired generations to strive for harmony, justice, and democracy.
We invite you to delve into this theme and express your reflections through art or essay or a multimedia project. Whether through brush strokes on canvas or the written word, we encourage you to draw inspiration from any aspect of South Asian or South Asian diaspora history, literature, poetry, peace activists, or movements that resonate with your understanding of peace and peacemaking.
So, what are you waiting for? Put your creative talents to the test and submit your entries for a chance to be published and recognized for your work. This contest is a call to action for all passionate and socially conscious students. Don't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have your work published and make a positive change in the world!
Prompt
"As a South Asian, what traditions of peacemaking do you find inspiring?”
Violence and conflict have long been a part of South Asian and South Asian diaspora history, literature, and storytelling, but so have different versions of peacemaking. Feel free to take inspiration from any South Asian history, literature, poetry, peace activists, or peace movements that focus on concepts or ways to address peace, justice, and democracy.
Tell us more about your choice of inspiration. Why are you personally inspired by that vision? What does that unique vision of peace and justice offer to the rest of the world?
Deadline: 12 pm EST on Tuesday, August 20
Prize: $1,000 for winners, $500 and $250 for runner-ups
ELIGIBILITY:
We welcome submissions from students in grades 6-12 who identify as belonging to the South Asian heritage living outside of South Asia (South Asian diaspora). Students from all religious backgrounds are welcome. We invite students whose identities intersect in meaningful ways with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka. This includes members of the diaspora whose families hail from the Caribbean, Fiji, Singapore or Malaysia, or countries in Africa, for example, as well as students who identify as multi-racial.
ESSAY/POETRY/PROSE FORMAT:
ESSAY
700 words minimum; 1,000 words maximum
Microsoft Word (.docx) document; double-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font
No personal identification information may be in the body of the essay
Citations, if any, must be placed in the end, and will not be part of the word count
POETRY/PROSECollection of 3-5 poems
No personal identification information may be in the body of the essay
Citations, if any, must be placed in the end, and will not be part of the word count
ARTWORK FORMAT
Artwork can take numerous formats to include:
Comic Strips/Cartooning
Zines
Visual Arts such as painting, drawing, collage, graphic art, etc.
If you produce physical art please include a high-resolution photograph of your artwork.
Please include an artist statement of up to 300 words.
MULTIMEDIA FORMATInclude social media accounts, video essays, audio work such as podcasts, animated short videos, etc
Email info@hindusforhumanrights.org if you have a format that you are unsure of.
Any video/audio content must be under 15 minutes or represented by a 15 minute excerpt
Please submit all videos as a Google Drive link
JUDGING PROCESS
Essay and art submissions will be grouped and judged based on grade level (middle school and high school). Jurors will not be able to see the names of contestants.
GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION
All submissions must be original and unique to this competition. Please do not submit work that you have submitted elsewhere. Additionally, providing false information, missing the submission deadline, not complying with the submittal format and word count will disqualify your entry.
PERMISSION TO USE YOUR ESSAYS, ARTWORK, NAMES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS
Contestants may be asked to submit a release allowing the sponsors to publish your essay and/or artwork in print publications and on public websites. In addition, you may be asked to authorize use of your photograph in contest-related promotional materials.
AI POLICY
We recognize that AI generating tools have become a more prominent part of creative processes and may or may not be part of one's artistic process. This contest aims to promote originality and creativity for the students applying. We ask that students disclose how and why they are using AI in any of their work.