INT’L CULTURE

On the occasion of minorities day – the anniversary of the adoption in 1992 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities – the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and its partners announced on 18 December 2024 the launch of the fourth edition of the International Contest for Minority Artists (2025).

The 2025 theme of the Contest is Belonging, Place and Loss.The 2025 theme invites creative exploration by minority artists human rights defenders of the connections between minority rights, minority experiences, and questions of belonging, environmental justice and climate change, as well as wider aspects of minority attachment to place and existence, loss of community, language and culture.

Artists who identify as belonging to a national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minority are invited to submit high-quality electronic images of up to five works of art related to the 2025 theme of the Contest. Applications for the Contest should be submitted on the website of Freemuse.org, at the following LINK, where you can access the form in 6 different languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). 

The final deadline for submission is 1 March 2025. A voluntary Judges Panel will select three minority artists, groups of artists, or art projects to receive non-hierarchical awards and one minority artists to receive the Minority Artist Award for Youth. The award-winners will be announced in November 2025.

For more information, a full description and concept note for the 2025 Contest is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The International Contest for Minority Artists is part of the Minority Artists for Human Rights Initiative (2024-2028), a comprehensive program centered on minority artists as human rights defenders. In the implementation of this action, OHCHR works in partnership with the non-governmental organizations Minority Rights Group International and Freemuse, and the City of Geneva. During 2024, the action also enjoyed the support of Loterie Romande, the Canton and Republic of Geneva, as well as of other contributors who wish to remain anonymous.

Further information on OHCHR's work to profile minority artist human rights defenders is available at the following LINK.