The European Commission selected from among more than 1,500 presentations made by Art Institutes from the 28 member states. Malmstrom: “They make us realize that we must rely on facts and not on stereotypes”
A cup of boiling water is just a cup of boiling water. A teabag is just a teabag. But together, they create a perfect mix. That’s how the student, Andrea Raia, decided to capture the representation of the migrants’ contribution to the construction of European society. This idea earned him one of the prizes that the European Commission assigned for the competition “Migrants in Europe.”
The competition was aimed at students in 777 schools for art, graphics and communication in the 28 member states. They were invited to produce an artistic work that reflects the role of migrants in Europe. Each school could present one or more works in 3 different categories: poster, photography and video.
Andrea, a student of the Academy Foundation of Communication in Milan, with his teabag, about to be plunged into the teacup, won the prize for best poster. The prize for best photo went to a Belgian school for an image taken at a welcome center in Brussels, while best video went to an Estonian institute, which illustrated the story of a migrant family. In addition to the one for best poster, a prize went to the Italian Academy for Communication: the prize “Nicolas Genevay,” assigned to Giulia Riccardi and Andrea Dell’Osa for an original video against prejudices. Thanks to the recognition, all three schools won a prize of 10,000 euro to use for educational purposes.
The Commission received more than 1,500 works, among which national juries made a first selection for each country. Among these a European jury then selected the 27 finalists among whom the 3 winners were chosen, one for each category.
“I am pleased that so many young talented professionals have decided to participate in the competition,” commented Cecilia Malmstrom, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs. The young people’s works, she added, “help us understand that our attitude toward diversity and immigration should be based on facts not on stereotypes.”
After the award ceremony took place in Brussels Monday, the art works will remain in exposition for the rest of the month of October in the European Commission office. All the finalists’ works are available on the following site: http://www.migrantsineurope.eu
