Contest: The power of images to challenge religion-based hate speech online

Publisher: APCNews    

If you are a designer, an artist, an illustrator or passionate about freedom of expression, internet rights and the power of tech, we invite you to take part in this contest!

What is the contest about?

APC invites artists, cartoonists, illustrators, designers, doodle enthusiasts and anyone passionate about human rights online, in particular social movements, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and the power of technology, to develop a transformative campaign image design that will represent the spirit of the project. 

The winning visual will become the main representation for APC’s "Challenging hate narratives and violations of freedom of religion and expression online in Asia" (Challenge) project, which seeks to defend secularity and diversity of religious opinion through supporting counter narratives, alternative content and social movements in Asia. 

The image will be used in the project webpage, campaigns, social media messaging, project output documents and other spaces. 

The deadline to send your design is 30 May 2019 (extended).

The winner of the contest will receive a prize of USD 1,500.

All the participants in the contest will be acknowledged in an article to be published on apc.org and distributed on social media after 30 May 2019. 

Everyone is welcome to participate, but participants from Asia will be given priority.

The submissions received will be reviewed by a contest jury composed of APC staff and the project partners during a meeting taking place in May 2019. 

We will only accept a maximum of two design submissions per participant.

What are we looking for?

Conceptually, the design: 

  • Should be a bold and vibrant representation that invites people to action.

  • Has to reflect the power of people and movements using technology to push back hate speech online on the basis of religion.

  • Needs to capture elements of religion or faith and speech online.

  • Must bring out the spirit of diversity, acceptance and secularism towards inclusion in democratic spaces.

Technically, the design:

  • Should be similar to an isotype design, which APC can later easily readapt and repackage for other purposes.

  • Must be sent in a high resolution that is suitable for printing on A3 page size (297 × 420 mm or 11.7 × 16.5 inches).

  • Should also be presented in black and white, vertical and horizontal use versions. 

  • Can be as colorful as your imagination wants it to be.

The criteria for selection will be:

  1. Originality and creativity expressed in the design.

  2. Compliance with design requests.

  3. Compliance with additional information requested (name, country, brief concept note, format).

Need more information about the project?

The "Challenging hate narratives and violations of freedom of religion and expression online in Asia" (Challenge) project, funded by the European Instrument For Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), builds on previous analysis and seeks to protect and promote respect for freedom of religion and expression on the internet, particularly by countering hate speech online on the basis of religion, and generating narratives and discourse that defend secular and diverse opinions touching upon religion.

The three-year project will focus on five countries in South and Southeast Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan, characterised by the presence of majority religious communities and challenges for secularists and minorities. 

For more information about the project, please see here.

Please take a look at a few of the resources related to the topics the project deals with:

How to participate?
  • Send your submission via email before 30 May 2019 to challenge@apc.org.

  • Use the email subject “Challenge contest”.

  • Add your visual production as an email attachment in PDF format.

  • In the body of the email, please let us know:

- Your name (or nickname)

- Country

- If you work for any organisation or collective

- A brief description of the concept behind your visual representation in no more than 500 words

The winner will be contacted via email in early June 2019 after the contest jury had the opportunity to deliberate and choose the winner.

Important notifications:

The winner will be requested to provide the editable files of the visual representation developed. 

APC will use the winning image under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons license and will further develop different variations of the image, depending on the needs.

The prize will be sent to the winner's bank account via wire transfer.

The winner will be announced publicly on APC social media channels and asked to give an interview to be published on apc.org.



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