Tag : Main Prize

For the past four years, Bangladeshi photographer G.M.B. has been documenting child labour in his homeland The UN Children's Fund believes there are more than 6.3 million working children in the country. Many work long hours in difficult and dangerous conditions for around US$10 a month. G.M.B....

In India, more than 2.3 million girls and women are believed to be working in the sex industry and over 200,000 are trafficked annually. Kolkata Sanved has pioneered the use of dance therapy to give rescued women and girls the tools to realise their potential and turn themselves into confident...

This piece of theatre's theme is the torment the central male characters experience in Vietnamese society due to their homosexuality. The ensemble cast say the play represents all that cannot be seen in a man. The piece opens with a general introduction to the men, who move fast and uniformly,...

For decades, the island nation of Sri Lanka has been the site of a bitter civil war which has claimed 68,000 lives and displaced 1 million. Parakrama, a pioneering social dramatist, founded a mobile, cultural-performance group, Jana Karaliya, to address the cultural gap between a divided and...

Ruby Yang won an Oscar for her documentary, 'The Blood of Yingzhou'. The film examines the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic on children in rural China. Thousands have been orphaned or are living in families where one or both parents suffer from the disease. The stigmatisation surrounding...

'Charcoal Traffic' is the first film shot in Somalia for nearly two decades. The dramatic short film conveys the destructive effects of the charcoal trade. Nomadic pastoralists in southern Somalia are being murdered for confronting charcoal gangs who destroy their trees and pasture lands. Through...

This Filipino painter is using his artwork to express his distress over nuclear and chemical technologies. He believes that the chemical industry has been neglectful in spewing its pollutants and affecting the health of the populations of the world. The presence of chemicals degrade the environment...

Ahmed's work highlights the plight of Afghanis who, by virtue of their country being located at the crossroads between East and West, have been invaded many times over the centuries. He hopes to show through his piece, 'Attack on Afghanistan', that human rights in Afghanistan are never considered,...

The run up to the 2009 Afghan elections was marred by violence and the rise of suicide bombers. Farid has used animation to address what happened. Farid says that his message is broad - he wanted to create something in terms of anatomy, energy and science that reflects the suicide bombers and...

Asadulla's work portrays the realities of the lack of awareness and concern of women's rights in Afghanistan. She wants to highlight that some of her countrymen think it acceptable to attack the idea of equality and that many Afghani women believe that it is acceptable for it to be attacked,...

This animation short centres on Fatenah, who dreams of a simple life in the Gaza Strip. When she discovers a lump near her breast, she begins a journey of torment, loss and pain. The story highlights the lack of medical facilities in the besieged Gaza Strip and the bureaucratic Israeli government...

Salome, who lives in Iran, is one of the most well known Persian female Hip Hop artists. She is known as the pioneer female rapper in her country and has been a counter-cultural icon amongst her generation ever since she started rapping publicly. Her lyrics focus on social injustice, the widening...

Hich Kas, which means 'nobody' in Persian, has been a leading Iranian counter-cultural icon ever since he started rapping publicly about five years ago. To date, he has never been allowed to sell a single CD of his music. His lyrics focus on social injustice, the widening gap between rich and poor,...

David's brother was killed in a 1985 anti-apartheid demonstration in the Cape Town townships in South Africa. This tragedy has resulted in 'Mama Let Me Go', a series of three linocuts. The first features a distraught mother trying to prevent her son, who is looking out of the window at a passing...

Nina uses her music to bring about positive change. Hailing from Kenya, she uses her lyrics and songs to advance the rights of the child. She wants to push society to be responsible and ensure the implementation of policies that ensure young people are engaged in nation building, using their...

The lead singer of this Germany based band is an Iranian political refugee who recorded 'Teheran Girl' as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story of a couple striving for freedom and the right to live, love and die in Iran. The central female character loves Iran yet her boyfriend craves for a freer,...

This heavy metal group, forced to flee Iran, believe that their music should be recongised because they endangered their lives to play their music., "because we left our country, family, friends and our everything to be able to play. Because we didnt have any place or any equipment to play music....

It is held to be a custom in the Balkans to take justice into one's own hands when a member of the family is murdered. Until the murderer is themselves killed, the family will not rest. In this piece of dance theatre, the sanctity of life is celebrated, along with the fight against the intolerance...

Jeton Neziraj from the Centre for Childrens Theatre Development worked with the UN Office on Missing Persons and Forensics on this theatre piece addressing the issue of 'the missing' in Kosovo. The aim was to hear the voice of the families of the missing and to preserve their feelings, ideas and...

Foad Manshadi is an Iranian Bahai rapper. Bahaism is not tolerated in Iran, where the official religion is Islam. Many Bahais have been killed, tortured, or discriminated against. In his first album, 'Enghelab-e Fekri', he describes the painful discrimination that he went through for being part of...

Through photography and video, Mimi explores the cycle of sex trafficking from those countries where women are sourced, transited through and eventually arrive to work. She examines the high schools and orphanages of the villages of Moldova and Albania, also looking at 'transit countries' such as...

127 are based in Iran and the USA and their album Khal Punk focuses on Iran's current socio-political climate. As rock bands and concerts are banned in Iran, this album takes a satirical approach towards what is going on in the country with an amalgamation of Iranian folk-pop and jazz with a taste...

Tatiana has used 'Time Capsule' to ensure the victims of the Armenian genocide are never forgotten. A large hourglass houses fragments of human bone that Tatiana's mother collected on a visit to the Der Zor desert in Syria. It was here that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died as a result of the...

The Emergency Biennale was conceived and developed in 2005 as a creative reaction to the destruction of a people and a culture in Chechnya. "The issues it raises are regarding our human responsibility as actors of both artistic and social life," say the organisers. It is the result of a series of...

Yas is considered one of the most influential hip hop artist in Iran. Dubbed the Persian Tupac, he is the voice for a young and restless generation of Iranian youth hungry for change in their own country and around the world. His sense of patriotism gives hope to young Iranians. With his stirring...

Mass media in Kazakhstan is under government control. Any alternative views are considered undesirable and suppressed. It is through creative projects that the people can have access to information, albeit subtly. 'The Excluded' is a collection of stories based on the lives of real people,...

Even though this Iranian band recently relocated to India, they were not immune to the shock of the recent crackdown of peaceful protestors on the streets of Tehran following the disputed elections. This song is their dedication to those who died or were arrested during various protests in Iran,...

Snezana describes her work as science fiction combined with surrealism. Wars make new wars, ad infinitum. And man is the eternal victim. The bloody break-up of Yugoslavia, which included the rise of Slobodan Milosevic, saw atrocities committed by all sides. This piece was created as a response to...

'Svetlana's Journey' was produced and directed by Michael on location in Bulgaria. He uses film to educate society about the growing epidemic of human trafficking, specifically sex trafficking of minors. In 2003, working on an action film in Bulgaria, Michael became aware of young children being...

Energetic Hip Hop is a form of protest in Iran. This duo has performed in Iranian universities and continued to post songs online during the recent brutal crackdown in the aftermath of the disputed 2009 election results. The lyrics for 'Bia Bia' are about hope and happiness. They sing: "We can use...

Decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship have left Haiti the poorest nation in the Americas. The main character of 'Miss Body Plastik', is Dezilia, a twenty-something young woman who has little support from family and friends. This lack of support does...

The 1994 Rwandan Genocide is notorious: in the course of 100 days, up to one million were slaughtered. Gilbert Ndahyao shot 'Behind this Convent' in the back yard of the home of his parents, located behind a convent in a small town outside of Kigali. During this time, nuns exhumed the bodies of...

El Colegio del Cuerpo uses contemporary dance to convey artistic, social and human values to the inhabitants living in the most deprived areas of Cartagene de Indias, Colombia. 'Palabrademar' is a homage to the poet Aim Csaire, one of the founders of the negritude movement, which believed that the...

The violent conflict over many decades in Colombia between outlawed armed groups, drug cartels and the government has devastated normal civilians. Their lives are a struggle against gross violations of human rights, one of the world's highest murder rates and the societal strains around the...

Through Ingoma Nshya Women Initiatives, Rwandan women who have lived through the Rwandan genocide of 1994 are planting a culture of hope, faith, love, respect and tolerance. This group offers Rwandan women the opportunity to re-learn the art of living together and facilitates the healing process....

This Colombian painter has created three paintings in this series, 'Freedom in the Jungle'. The first, 'Fire in the Jungle', is done in vivid red oils to represent the fury of Colombian citizens facing corruption, violence, and displacement at the hands of the paramilitary and the FARC in Colombia....

The Second Congo War is referred to as the African World War. The war is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people. Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In the east of the Democractic Republic of the Congo,...

'The 99' was created by Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa to provide alternative role models and heroes to children in the Islamic world. From the sources from which others have extracted only negative and violent messages, he has chosen to emphasise tolerance and multiculturalism. 'The 99' is a comic book series...

This rap began as a poem, written by Omékongo while he volunteered for two months in a Congolese refugee camp watching people die and watching mothers forced to sell their children for the equivalent of a quarter. He says the poem is an entirely true story. He saw it as his calling to document the...

'Latitude 33' is made by two artists, Rebecca Townsend from South Africa and Alejandra de Solminihac from Chile. Both countries are famous for their rich natural resources. In the past, indigenous people lived from the riches of the land without pretensions of ownership. After living under...

Ronit has transformed fall leaves by perforating a myriad of images on their surface. From baby prams, to armed conflict, from a girl on a swing, to assault helicopters, 'The Last Leaf' collection is an interesting fusion of the decorative innocence of the leaves with representations of violent,...

'Kaabiyesi: Courts of Influence' addresses the relationship between modernity and tradition in Nigeria. Central to the story of 'Kaabiyesi' are the Obas, kings of the Yoruba people. The Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa and have their own language and spiritual beliefs. Up...

Walter travelled to East Congo at the beginning of 2009 to document a new weapon of war - rape. In the region, thousands of women have been and continue to be raped with total impunity by all sides in the conflict. He says in South Kivu County alone, 14,200 women and young girls were raped in two...

This series of 90 photographs documents the 1999 war in Kosovo, its aftermath and the 2008 struggle for independence by Kosovo's ethnic majority, the Albanians. This decade-long struggle of the Albanian majority to achieve independence from Serbia has devastated the country. Over 10,000 were killed...

For Lorenzo, his collection represents a decade-long journey deep in Latin America's social intimacies. His work features images from Cuba, Haiti, Chile, Easter Island and Brazil. The common thing about the pictures is that they are all on the same continent and show Lorenzo's strongest passion: to...

Aziza Brahim is a Saharawi refugee, trapped in a conflict between Morocco and Algeria. She has never forgotten her roots and dedicates herself to being a voice for the Saharawis, a people fighting for independence. Her songs - all dedicated to the struggle of her people - evoke exile, the right to...

A former war photographer, Karim Ben Khelifa has now focused his camera on dissecting one of the world's most inflammatory conflicts, between Israel and the Palestinian Territories. This collection is a unique analysis of the conflict. Karim believes that by letting the fighters involved speak for...

Cont Mhlanga has been practising protest theatre and challenging state ideologies in Zimbabwe for over 25 years. He has been the target of state surveillance, intimidation, harassment, arrest and detention. Since founding the Amakhosi Performing Arts Academy and the Theatre for Community Action,...

This underground theatre project was founded in 2005 as an artistic means of resisting censorship under Belarusian President Lukashenko. Playwrights Nikolai Khalezin and his wife Natalya Koliada believe counterculture is the most effective way to raise awareness and keep hope alive. They were...

Billed as 'the Muslim Madonna' by The Sun newspaper, Deeyah is a Pakistani-Norwegian singer activist. Her controversial lyrics about free speech and women's rights have outraged ultra-conservative elements within the Muslim community. Deeyah and her family have been the targets of death threats and...

'Where the Elephants Weep' is Cambodia's first rock-opera. Loosely based on an ancient Cambodian love story, it follows Sam, a refugee from the Khmer Rouge genocide, who leaves the US to return to his homeland, committed to finding his roots. There he falls in love with Bopha, a Cambodian pop star....

Yang Jian's work expresses the anxiety emerging from shifting social, economic and political values in contemporary China. His photo series, White Collar, Red Tie, gestures towards the breakdown of China's communist ideology and system of values. Although very quiet and poetic, Yangs work speaks...

Javanese writer and poet, Arahmaiani, uses her artwork to highlight the diversity of Islamic cultures and the stereotypes of her faith held across the world. She says, “When we speak about the Islamic world, it can be misleading if we don’t put it in context.. Islamic ways are not the same...

This Australian artist has sown wheat into the framework of a machine gun - a juxtaposition of creativity and destruction. The contrast between the vivid green and stark black of the weapon shows the potential growth of the plant over the static nature of death and violence. The artist poses the...

This documentary tracks the arrival of Pop Idol into Afghanistan after 30 years of war and Taliban rule. Under the Taliban music was outlawed. But today, millions gather weekly to watch the TV series, Afghan Star, and vote for their favourite singers, some of them female, on their mobile phone. For...

Afghanistan's opium cultivation has wreaked havoc through society. In the majority of cases, the main cause of domestic or social violence is either addiction, or the opium trade itself. The artist's message is simple - opium and addiction are bad for the health and social structure of Afghanistan....

Ommolbanin is one of an emerging group of women Afghan artists, based in Kabul. 'From Sound to Image' represents the situation in her country. It is made up of two different parts. One is the 'lectures behind the microphones, the colourful talks on how some groups care about the lower class of the...

Fadi's film focuses on the attempts of one couple to enjoy quality time together in the Palestinian refugee camp Bourj al Barajneh, outside Beirut, Lebanon. The constant noise and overcrowding play a central role in the film, which portrays the battle to create any kind of quality of life when...

'A Space Exodus' is a brief, stylish remake of a few key scenes from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', with the artist cast as the first Palestinian cosmonaut. The film takes a narrative of extreme, technological progress and transposes it onto a situation in which a population is bound,...

For almost 40 years, Suleiman Mansour has been a pivotal cultural leader in Palestine. His artwork has played a crucial and empowering role within Palestinian society, reflecting Palestinian identity and offering hope and inspiration through the creation and promulgation of the visual arts. For...

Following the recent incursion of Israel into the Gaza Strip, this Hip Hop group has used their music to give their peers "the hope that someday, their suffering will end; someday we'll come home; some day we will live better; and some day, our little children will see the sun again." The five...

Khatibeh 5 is a group of Palestinian refugees living in the Bourj al Barajeneh refugee camp in Beirut's southern suburbs in Lebanon. The camp was established in 1948 to accommodate an influx of Palestinian refugees from northern Israel. According to the UN, more than 15,000 refugees live in the...

Unsafe drinking water and a lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, even war. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from these water issues, 90% are children under the age of five. Through photography, Scott...

Cesar Lopez has transformed the AK47, a gun which symbolises armed conflict in Colombia, into an icon of hope, inspiration and comfort. Cesar only uses AK47s handed over as gestures of renunciation of violence. He turns them into instruments and uses them to play his songs of peace on the streets...

In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, visual artist Brookie Maxwell collaborated with RAPSIDA, a Rwandan theatre group, to create 'Rwanda Mon Amour'. This multi-media exhibition addresses the violation of life, liberty, security and freedom against the backdrop of the genocide and HIV/AIDS...

More people live in slavery today than when Britain abolished the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1807. 'Forgotten But Not Gone' is a photographic exhibition that exposes today's modern slave trade. Pete Pattisson has travelled to India, Haiti, Ghana, Burma and Britain to draw links between modern...

'Open Shutters Iraq' uses photography and story-telling to empower Iraqi women to openly discuss issues affecting their lives. Nine women from all over Iraq have used these mediums to examine their experiences of war and occupation. The result is a showcase of hope and triumph amid the chaos of...

The 'Frames of Reality' photography exhibition arose out of a personal and professional dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli photojournalists. Through a series of workshops led by The Peres Center for Peace, these professionals met to discuss how their work perpetuated stereotypes and inflamed...

The 27 year long civil war that wreaked devastation across Angola moved former soldier, Antonia Tomas Ana, to fight against injustice, discrimination and tribalism. He uses his sculptures to protect the fragile from the strong. The loss of the freedom of expression and privacy in today's Angola is...

Today, there are over 200 million migrant workers in China. The purpose of the Migrant Community Centre is to serve the migrant population and increase awareness of their plight. This 4000 square foot structure allows migrants to communicate with each other, compare wages and working conditions and...

The state-sanctioned human rights violations occurring in the Philippines has motivated this Collective to use giant papier-mâché figures to represent the discontent of the people. During colonial times, Filipinos would construct these larger-than-life caricatures and burn them to express their...

This poetry anthology was born out of the commitment of 12 Saharawi poets to draw attention to the human rights violations taking place in the occupied territory of Western Sahara. The poems reflect the imprisonment and torture by human rights activists fighting against oppression and violence.

Drawing on tensions between Georgia and Abkhazia and South Ossetia, this playwright sets a love story against a backdrop of a presidential campaign in Tbilisi. After the play was published, Irakli was subjected to a campaign of harassment by authorities, beaten and forced to flee his homeland with...

Decades of civil war and crippling poverty have made Burundi one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. Acts of torture have been regularly committed, though not openly acknowledged. 'Theatre and Reconciliation' brings together former prisoners of the state and former military men who committed...

'Unsuni' in Hindi means unheard. This Bollywood musical theatre piece profiles five, real-life stories of disadvantaged individuals who fight against the odds. In the end, the characters earn legal and social victories, in spite of economic and cultural oppression.

Raha Rastifard and Mehran Tizkar are two Iranian-born, German residents who have used multi-media techniques to show the face of modern day Iranian women. The title of the work, 'Tuba', refers to the name of a tree in paradise without any roots. They belive that in Iran, Islam affects every area of...

'Arabia Erotika' aims to expose the oppression and discrimination faced by women in the Middle East. The artist has faced death threats and the possibility of exile due to the controversial themes and nature of her art. Mo Maria's art examines sexuality, identity and religion in the Middle East,...

Through the eyes of this Swedish-based artist, the audience sees a society's traditional disdain towards women coupled with political fanaticism. There is a woman living under constant threat, painting themes that are taboo in Islam. Fateme's paintings relate to stoning and hanging and revolve...

When footage of Neda Agha-Soltan's death during the 2009 election protests in Iran circulated around the world, she became a rallying point for the reformist opposition. Neda is a word used in Persian to mean voice, calling, or divine message, and she has been referred to as the 'voice of Iran'....

Lagos is already one of the world's 'mega-cities' - a crime-ridden, seething mass of some 15 million people crammed into the steamy lagoons of southwest Nigeria. Crown Troupe of Africa is based in Bariga, Lagos, and is made up of youths from economically disadvantaged areas. They create work...

'The XYZ Show' is a ground-breaking television programme at the crossroads of political commentary and entertainment. Each week, 15-minute episodes are aired on Kenya's number one station, Citizen TV. The show uses humour and satire to promote values such as good governance, anti-corruption,...

Zambia is a landlocked Southern African country, ruled by a repressive single-party dictator. After 27 years of devastating socialist policies, residents have incomes lower than those recorded in 1964. Maiko Zulu is an outspoken musician who has put his life on the line for the sake of freedom,...

Walter Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress. When he married Albertina in 1944, Nelson Mandela was his best man. Like Mandela, Walter was jailed for life in 1964, serving 26 years behind bars. Marina has unveiled this public sculpture on...

Art for Humanity invited 25 women artists and 25 poets, primarily from South Africa and the developing world, to create public works of art to inspire moral ownership of the rights of the child. Their aim is for each poem to be translated into all South African languages, to promote multilingualism...

This collage piece represents an appeal to the government, the law and community forums to look deeply into the issue of women and child abuse in South Africa. The artist explains how he has 'disfigured' his characters within the picture to symbolise the state of the souls of victimised women and...

This Israeli singer has dedicated her career to reviving and re-invigorating the spirit of Convivencia, coexistence between Jewish and Muslim cultures. She says the message in her artwork is of peace, unity, understanding, and tolerance and has dedicated the past decade to reaching people's hearts...

The al-Anfal Campaign, waged against the Kurdish population of Iraq, was led by Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid. It included the use of ground offensives, aerial bombing, systematic destruction of settlements, mass deportation, firing squads and chemical warfare, which earned al-Majid the...

Cedou is a survivor of the war which ravaged the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2008 and 2009. He wants to portray the innocent people dying in the presence of their enemy, and highlight his belief that the government did nothing to make the rebels go away - "instead they...

Through his painting, this Kenyan artist tackles a taboo subject in his country - female circumcision. Patrick believes that although this practice makes communities proud to feel they are helping these young girls, claiming that it reduces immorality in society by reducing sexual desires, that it...

Between 1991 and 2001, around 50,000 people were killed in Sierra Leone's civil war and hundreds of thousands were displaced. Amadu's painting is an appreciation of the work of those who helped restore peace, democracy, good governance, the rule of law, freedom for all and protected the rights of...

Jelili's sculpture is an analysis of the devastating conditions in Nigerian prisons, especially in the cells for those awaiting trial. Suspects can be held in custody indefinitely in what observers say is a gross violation of their human rights. The piece consists of 61 maquette-size female...

Addisalem created the 'To Live' series to address the role of women against the backdrop of the unstable social reality and economic hardship of modern day Ethiopia. The series is comprised of five oil paintings entitled To Learn, To Dominate, To Feed, To Drink, and To Live, and portray the desire...

The slums in Nairobi, Kenya, are some of the largest in the world. They form the backdrop of Rahab's work, which does not shy away from the harshness of the surrounding area. In his paintings he portrays people struggling to and from work due to narrow streets and flooded areas which cannot be...

'Africa's Hope' is a story of survival and positivity in the context of the Rwandan genocide. It confronts the tragic outcomes of prejudice, racism and division. The genocide is seen through the eyes of a child questioning why evil exists in a world where everyone has a right to live and a right to...

'The King and I' is a theatrical representation of the corruption, oppression and bad leadership these actors believe is prevalent in Nigerian government. It is set in a peaceful kingdom known as Aiyedun (Good Life) where the calm is shattered when the townsfolk catch a thief and demand his death...

This Ghanaian environmental artist has created an installation from waste plastic bottles, copper wires, discarded sandals, scraps of paper and nylon, different coloured umbrellas and a broken computer. In all, around 400 pieces make up the sculpture. Olaniyi's works are known to provoke debates,...

Togolese Abdoul-Ganiou offers a message of global significance. His work raises questions of respect for human rights, freedom, respect for culture and understanding between communities. His painting is a patchwork of colour which forms a human figure, whose head is a terrestrial sphere. The arms...

This Zimbabwean-born graphic artist has used his talent to contradict the stereotypes surrounding Africa. "I could creatively look at our predicament through our own African lens and not only see human rights in terms of abuse, as the media do, but positively, as an integral part of the celebration...

For many years, Mohsen Makhmalbaf has made controversial films both within and outside Iran protesting against social oppression. He was forced to leave Iran in 2004 due to the extreme pressure of censorship and has since been the spokesperson for the Green Movement, a peaceful social movement...

The Thai people have fled persecution by the Burmese junta and are now living in refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border. The women who make up The Kumjing Storytellers have created 'The Journey of Kumjing' as a performance piece in which they can talk about their situation and assert their...

After the fall of the Taliban, Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai, who has grown up never listening to music or seeing a live play, is bravely attempting to reintroduce her country and people to the arts and their culture. Sheenkai's work explores the re-emergence of the Afghan spirit after years of...

Ugandan sculptor Peter Oloya uses sculpture as a form of therapy to overcome a profound, personal trauma. When he was a child, he witnessed the deaths of friends and family who were victims of the bloody insurgency waged by the Lords Resistance Army. Peter's work draws on traditional African visual...

Ferhat Tunc has faced harsh opposition from Turkish authorities, the media and ultranationalists for singing in his native Kurdish language. In Turkey, the Kurdish culture is repressed and extensively monitored. Rules curtail Kurdish performances. Judicial obstructions occur at every concert and...

Alec Von Bargen is an actor by profession, a playwright by 'obstination', photographer by inspiration and world traveler by addiction. His work is an invitation to respond, to react, to provoke, to enrage, to converse, to commit, and hopefully to inspire. EINS (ONE) is a series of digital...

Currently based in the USA, Sanam Enyati’s art investigates Iran’s current society, beliefs, principles and its relation to tradition and the globalised world. Her series of six mixed-media paintings explores the moment in which one’s mind is distressed by the immediate reality and how it struggles...

Born in 2008, as a pact between Farah Malik, a Pakistani Muslim, and Dana Arbib, a Libyan Jew, ‘A Peace Treaty’ creates employment for skilled artisans working in places of socio-political strife, which are frequently seen only negatively by the media. They work in Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan,...

Ai Wei Wei has used his prominence as an artist to be a vocal critic of Chinese repression of free speech and human rights. He has used his artwork and his social media presence to push authorities for greater honesty and transparency. He is also very vocal in his defence of other Chinese advocates...

Alessandro spent five weeks at the heart of the Libyan uprisings, capturing the spirit of the rebels, the war and the daily struggle for survival of those living through conflict. He suffered numerous risks on the frontline of a war to capture these images and bring them to the world, wanting to...

If every fifth citizen of the world is an Indian, every fifth Indian is a dalit : an untouchable who, despite strict laws, faces severe human rights abuses. This collaborative project seeks to (belatedly) engage the world with the debilitating effects of the caste system. The artists seek to change...

Brian seeks to explore war from the perspective of children living in its day-to-day reality. Following children in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank as they work with therapists to unlock and articulate their experiences through creativity, ‘War Toys’ is a series of photographs which portray the...

Cia de Dança Balé de Rua is a dance company formed in the streets of a poor neighbourhood in Uberlandia in the centre of Brazil – a common dream of a group of friends who were determined to improve the reality of many young people in the turbulent favelas around them through their creativity and...

Conrad’s work has been focusing on making social change since the early 1970s, acting as a catalyst for discussion on issues from nuclear war to 9/11. Part of his tenure as the official artist of the US Campaign to Ban Landmines, these landmine sculptures are covered in images from popular culture...

David’s work documents the positive results of adherence and access to Anti Retro Viral treatment for HIV/AIDS. His photographs capture the colour, optimism, hope and strength of those he portrays to try and empower both subject and viewer. A change, he believes, from the usual representations of...

De Bruces a Mi use their music to bring a positive message of change to a Colombian society hit hard by poverty, corruption and violence. They call for a spiritual and emotional revolution to bring about real and lasting change in society, demanding equal rights, denouncing injustice and appealing...

Research commissioned for ‘The Lost Girls of South Africa’ found that a young girl born in South Africa is more likely to be raped than she is to complete secondary education. Deborah and Xoliswa were determined to tell the story of some of these victims of sexual abuse in a way that truly...

District Unknown – all under the age of 24 – are the first metal band in Afghanistan, who compose their own music to inspire, challenge and provoke discussion about change and risk amongst the youth of Afghanistan. They face numerous challenges to their work, including threats from the government...

For the last seven years, photographer Espen has travelled the world, documenting the daily lives of refugees, going behind the headlines to countries largely forgotten by the world. He has followed in the footsteps of the 43 million or more people forced from their homes due to lack of action by...

Guy travelled to North Korea in 2001 to supervise the production of animated cartoons, and on his return home, wrote a graphic novel based on his experience. ‘Pyongyang’ offers a rare glimpse into a society that lives under one of the most repressive regimes on earth. It is a humorous narrative...

‘Evidencias’ is an ongoing participatory installation comprising over 200 domestic objects that have been used to perform acts of violence against Mexican women, donated by the women themselves and accompanied by brief written testimonials. Lorena’s work is centred on exposing, denouncing and...

Through intimate interviews, provocative art and rare historical film and video, Lynn’s film reveals how art can address the political consequences of discrimination and violence. She has been working on this project for 42 years, amassing 13,000 minutes of footage, documenting courageous and...

‘Suspended Together’ is an installation that gives the impression of movement and freedom. However, a closer look at the 200 doves reveals that the doves are actually frozen and suspended with no hope of flight. An even closer look shows that each dove carries on its body a permission document that...

Mitra’s work is concerned with the ‘crisis of contemporary culture’ in both West and East, with a particular focus on Iran. Regularly travelling between two different worlds, Mitra often feels that she does not belong in either, and her work looks to provide an insight into how it feels to be an...

Natan’s photographs portray young members of the disenchanted Arab minority in Israel. ‘Eighteen’ is an inside view of a community by a Jewish Israeli man, someone who is perceived by his subjects as the enemy; showing that if he can be accepted into his subjects’ lives, then so can others.

Nermine has spent her life trying to reveal the underbelly of society, searching to show what usually goes unseen. For ‘Metanoia’, she spent three months living, eating and sleeping with the patients of a state-run mental asylum in Cairo, pushing herself to the limits of her creativity and...

Omar is a Syrian-American Hip Hop artist, committed to creating art that entertains, educates and inspires people across the world. He uses his lyrics to raise awareness about issues as wide ranging as war, xenophobia and racial profiling, and his high public profile has allowed him to raise...

ABHA is a not for profit organisation that works with socially excluded women and children in Iran, Afghanistan and Cambodia, using different art forms to increase the awareness for the need for greater social justice, harmony and freedom for everyone, everywhere. They seek to establish creative...

Integrated dance (abled and disabled dancer performing together) is one of the newest art forms in South Africa – and Remix Dance Company are one of the leading practitioners. ‘LovAffair’ had its world premiere at one of the most prestigious venues in Cape Town; a union of dance, drama,...

As many as 500,000 women and children have been victims of rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Robin travelled there to photograph survivors, record their testimonies of brutal violence and tell their stories of survival. His greatest challenge was to do justice to the...

Rooftop is one of the iconic Zimbabwean theatre companies spearheading the theatre protest movement, who represent a confluence of activism, performance and politics. In the face of constant censorship and unwelcome attention from the state, they continue to tirelessly address contemporary...

Every year millions of young girls are forced into marriage, and although child marriage is outlawed in many countries, the tradition continues. Stephanie’s film is a call to action in the words of the child brides themselves.

‘Preludio’ is a theatre performance by young people aged 16 to 35 in an area seriously impacted by the armed conflicts in Colombia. It represents the tragedies of the past along with hopes for a future of peace. The theatre group was formed in Barrancabermeja, one of the worst conflict affected...

The Thee Nyi Naung Dance Troupe was formed in 2005 and their political humour and criticism of the military junta of Burma attracts large audiences in a country where freedom of expression is systematically restricted. It also attracted the attention of military officials who continue to try to...

‘Domestic Tension’ was inspired by the death of Wafaa’s brother in the Iraq War, closely followed by the loss of his father. Wafaa sequestered himself for one month in a gallery with a paintball gun with which people could shoot at him over the internet, asking people to engage in a dialogue about...

Yahya, a Sudanese refugee in Australia since 2007, constantly strives to raise awareness in his adopted nation of the conflict in Darfur. He often goes without his own comforts in order to support his family and friends back home, and dreams of working for the UN to ensure that no one ever has to...

Right at the heart of the Egyptian Revolution in Tahrir Square, Arabian Knightz have continued to pursue their long standing mission – to push for equality and unity between all religions and colours. ‘Not Your Prisoner’ calls for people to stand up and demand their rights, and ask for the end of...

ShujaazFM is a multimedia project in Kenya comprising a daily radio show, a monthly comic and a heavy social media presence. During Kenya’s 2008 post election violence, most of those caught up were disillusioned youngsters, easily convinced by their leaders that other ethnic communities had wronged...

3 Meters Away are the first Yemeni band to sing Reggae music and have been heavily involved in the cause of the ‘peaceful revolution’, composing and performing special works such as ‘Inhale Freedom’ and ‘I’m Staying Till the Regime Leaves’. Their concerts are free and open to all, and they sing for...

Dalia’s work is a series of photographs focussing on the 17,000 people who went missing during the 1975 -1990 Lebanese Civil War and whose fate is still unknown. She wants to raise awareness about the effects of war on human beings, even decades later, and shed light on the issue of ‘enforced...

Rachel is an artist whose work is energetic, fragile and raw; not least due to her severe visual impairment. She strives to reach out across the world to share her creativity and facilitate opportunities for vulnerable individuals to be heard through creative collaboration. This ongoing project...

Roxana’s book tells the story of her imprisonment as an Iranian-American journalist in Iran and the faith and friendships that got her through her ordeal, calling attention to human rights violations in Iran and calling upon readers to take a stand and act together against injustice. Although she...

The ‘LRA Coming Home Card’ is a simple yet innovative way of directly reaching members of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Central Africa, which has been terrorising victims for many years. This flier is hung on tree branches in the very heart of the conflict by Invisible Children...

Kaid is a photographer who started the Home School Project to teach art to children in the slums in cities across the world. He photographs the children at the end of each class, provides them with a nutritional meal and displays their photographs and stories in cities across the world, drawing...

Wanlov’s music calls for positive social change across all sections of society, calling for peace, love, access to education, equality for women and accountable leaders. Nominated for ‘Best African Act’ at the MOBO Awards, his music has been used to raise awareness of many issues, including as the...

Ahmed is an actor, comedian and film maker, and one of the pioneers in taking American style standup comedy to the heart of the Middle East, the story of which he tells in his documentary film ‘Just Like Us’. Believing that comedy provides a cross-cultural dialogue for social change, he wants to...

'The Invisibles', a series of four short films by Marc Silver and Gael García Bernal, details the plight of tens of thousands of men, women and children who leave their homes in Central and South America each year to travel across Mexico in search of a better life in the USA. They explore the...

‘Palestyle’ looks to empower female refugees and create awareness of the value and history of handmade embroidery, calligraphy and craft techniques that have been handed down by women from generation to generation. Each Palestyle design, made by a female refugee, is signed off with distinctive...

Kay has developed a unique artistic approach to expose the evils of human trafficking. Her aim is to make visually compelling images that avoid exposing the very people she wishes to help from public stigma or further danger. Using interactive portrait sessions and empathetic listening, she...

Rachelle is the first female dance choreographer in Benin, one of the smallest and most densely populated regions in Africa. She formed ‘Compagnie Walo’ which uses a mix of contemporary and traditional dance to focus on social issues that impact communities in Benin. She wants to create a knowledge...

Growing up in North Korea, based on his artistic skills, Song Byeok was selected at the age of 24 to become an official state propagandist. Song had absolute faith that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il truly loved his people. His faith in the Dear Leader was only shaken when famine struck...

Tarik Samarah is a Bosnian photographer who works in artistic and documentary photography. His ‘Srebrenica’ billboard campaign exhibited images of the Srebrenica massacre on large commercial billboards as a way of raising awareness about events that took place during the Srebrenica Genocide.

Thet Sambath spent 10 years gaining the trust of former Khmer Rouge perpetrators and persuaded them to confess their crimes on film in order to understand this most mysterious of genocidal events – both for himself as a victim of the Killing Fields, his fellow Cambodians and the word as a whole....

Isoko Theatre in Rwanda creates contemporary theatre for human rights and cultural growth in Rwanda. Their company is founded in the spirit of exchange, celebrating Rwandan artists and furthering global peace building, whilst also promoting equality for women and girls. ‘The Monument’ is a play...

Sister Fa has taken enormous personal risks to champion the rights of women and girls in West Africa. One of the most widely recognised female rap artists in Senegal, she has devoted her life’s work to raising awareness of the dangers of female genital mutilation, a practice, in theory, has...

Al-Bugaa Theatre Troupe operate in Sudan’s conflict zones. Based out of Khartoum, Nuba Mountain and Dafur, they stage plays in this war-torn region to bring their message of peace and reconciliation to everyone, including militia groups and refugees in camps.

Ayat Al-Gormezi, a 20 year old poet and student at the Faculty of Teachers in Bahrain, was put on trial for merely expressing her opinion peacefully and openly. She was arrested in February 2011 because she recited a poem which criticised government policy in Pearl Square. Ayat was subjected to...

Ramy Essam began the 25th January Revolution in Egypt purely as a participant, a responsibility he felt happy to undertake, but was soon called upon by his fellow protesters to provide a soundtrack to their struggles and was quickly labelled as the ‘singer of the revolution’. He rose to...

Basal’ya Bazoba uses musical theatre, rap and drama to address the persecution of child witches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that is struggling to rebuild itself after decades of conflict. Having played to over100,000 people, this troupe has encouraged open discussions on the...

The 5th Brigade, also referred to as the ‘Gukurahundi’, are renowned for atrocities committed in Zimbabwe in the 1980s under Robert Mugabe. Communities are still nervous about discussing the incident publicly or commemorating the missing.