Highlights

The winners of the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize were announced on 19 November at a spectacular awards ceremony and concert in Cape Town. The concert featured a mix of local and internationally famous music stars - The Gugulethu Tenors, renowned Namibian artist, EeS and Senegalese superstar, Baaba Maal. Freedom to Create donated the proceeds of tickets sales to the Music Therapy Community Clinic, a non-profit organisation in Cape Town that engages underprivileged and previously disadvantaged communities through music therapy. Read more about it here.

Listen to the specially recorded congratulatory message for the 2011 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize winner Win Maw from Burma's pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, that was shared with the audience at the 2011 Freedom to Create Prize Concert in Cape Town.

2008 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize Winner released in Burma. The Burmese government has released dozens of prisoners, including political detainees, as part of a general amnesty. Popular comedian, Zarganar - winner of the 2008 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize was among the first to be freed. He was arrested in 2008 after publicly criticising the government response to Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 140,000 people. Read more about it here.

Winner of the 2010 Freedom to Create Main Prize, Mr. Ali Mahdi Nouri has been designated as a UNESCO Artist for Peace for a two-year period, by Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO. UNESCO Artists for Peace are internationally-renowned personalities who use their influence, charisma and prestige to help promote UNESCO’s message and programmes. UNESCO works with these distinguished personalities in order to heighten public awareness regarding key development issues and to inform the public of the organisation's action is in these fields.

2011 Freedom to Create Prize Entrants, Poetic Portraits of a Revolution showcase a video featuring poetry, photography, interviews, and footage to document the popular movements in Tunisia. Through their focus on the human condition and the emotions behind the recent events in Tunisia, the group hopes to provide a powerful perspective that is not being covered in most media outlets. To watch the video please click here.

2010 Freedom to Create Youth Prize winners, United ACT theatre group, who live and perform in refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border to spread their message and protect children from being abducted and trafficked, are expanding their work into traditional Burmese folk and dance. They are aiming to preserve the traditional Burmese culture amongst the migrant youth, many of whom cannot remember the traditions of Burma after living in Thailand for so long as refugees or migrant workers. Their recent performances have been filmed by the Democratic Voice of Burma Television and will be broadcast to more than 500,000 viewers in mid October 2011. The young performers were taught their dancing skills from the Thee Nyi Naung group, who have been commended for the 2011 Freedom to Create Main Prize.

Freedom to Create Exhibition Coordinator in Cairo, Yasmine El Rashidi has released an e-book on the ‘revolution’ in Egypt, dedicated to those who have lost their lives in this battle for Egypt. You can read more about the book here.

Sisterhood Network is a digital portal initiated by 2nd runner up for the 2008 Freedom to Create Main Prize, Deeyah, providing connection, information and creative exchange for young modern Muslim women. The focus of this website is to further the work of SISTERHOOD and to encourage creativity through a supportive and nurturing digital environment. SISTERHOOD's goal is to encourage young women to dream, to not be afraid to hope, and to encourage them to realize their full potential, empowering self-expression for young Muslim women across creative disciplines.

2011 Freedom to Create Prize Entrant, Kianoush Ramezani brought together some of the world’s most famous cartoonists in Paris for the Exile International Cartoon Expo, on World Press Freedom day. The exhibition has travelled across Europe to draw attention to the problems of artists and cartoonists in exile.

Freedom to Create supports peace-building initiative through collaborative photography. For more details please click here.

2009 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize Winner released in Cameroon. At 2pm, Friday 8 April 2011, the winner of the 2009 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize, Lapiro de Mbanga, was released from prison in Cameroon after three years imprisonment under harsh conditions. See more about 2009 Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist Prize Winner Lapiro de Mbanga

Winner of the 2010 Freedom to Create Main Prize, Ali Mahdi Nouri and the Al-Bugaa Theatre Troupe have been awarded the UNESCO Sharjah Prize 2011 for their work to unleash creativity in Sudan. The UNESCO Sharjah Prize celebrates the development, diffusion and promotion of Arab Culture in the world, and honours the individuals who contribute to the preservation and revival of Arab Cultural Heritage. For further details, please visit the UNESCO Sharjah Prize.

Commended Artists in the 2010 Freedom to Create Main Prize, Brothers Hassan and Husain Essop, were featured in the ‘Figures and Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography’ exhibition at the V&A Museum in London from April to July 2011. You can read more about their work here.

Performer at the 2010 Freedom to Create Prize Ceremony Concert in Cairo, Eric 'EeS' Sell has released his long awaited new album Megaphone Ghazzie. For more details, please click here.

Congratulations to Arabian Knightz, 2010 Freedom to Create Prize entrants, and performers at the 2010 Prize Ceremony Concert, whose emotionally uplifting song 'Rebel' featuring the legendary Lauren Hill, was a global phenomenon, expressing the courage and spirit of the Egyptian people during the recent uprising in Egypt. You can learn more about this here