This series is called "Life of Bedouins today". Year 1948, the beginning of Nakba. Palestinians are forced to leave their homes beyond exile. The same fate befell the desert nation of Bedouins, who however failed to break the strong bond with the heart of the culture that is part of them – the desert they have never left before. The number of Bedouin people inhabiting their original territories is shrinking and gradually losing their identity to be a Bedouin. Devoted to their country and willing to lay down his life to save another. Share with the last piece of bread or water. Born of sand and sun is a kind of visual metaphor for the gradual fulfillment of Ben Gurion’s dream of flourishing the desert, with which will forever evaporate the myths of a brave desert nation of Bedouins. All that is left for them are fragments covered with sand, which in time will turn to themselves.
The idea of the competition was to challenge students at university level of any study programs and non-professional photographers to send us photographs that will show us how they perceive conflict in contemporary societies. We had sent invitations to the competition to different universities in Europe, including art schools and also to associations of non-professional photographers.
This is how we framed the subject of the competition for interested students and non-professional photographers:
Conflict, in all its different forms, is an unavoidable part of our daily lives. Conflict affects our society and our personal experiences on a daily basis. It revolves around different issues such as climate change, vaccination, bike paths, birth control rights, barrier-free roads, to name just a few. It might affect everyone, or small groups of people. You might find it in huge rallies, as well as in small interpersonal encounters, or even in symbolic gestures.
We have received dozens of entries from participants from several countries. Our international jury consisted of a journalist and photographer Jana Čavojská who focused on stories of people who live in conflict areas and countries in crisis, educator Lotte Sprengers from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK), digital media creator and trainer Issa Shaker specialised in storytelling and virality with more than 15 years of experience, working with international CSOs and media outlets like the BBC and Aj+, both from the Netherlands and Wouter Van Springel, director of BREEDBEELD, the Flemish support center for non-professional photographers, cineasts and media-artistsfrom Belgium, selected the three winning artists.
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