Sadat Art for Justice and Peace Competition

Each year, students in the Department of Art submit pieces, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional, based on a pre-selected theme. This competition selects the best artwork depicting the theme of peace and reconciliation, and is often held in conjunction with the annual Sadat Lecture for Peace. Past themes have included the refugee crisis, the impact of the government’s reaction to 9/11 and its impact on the world, and dignity. A first and second place winner is selected for each category and in some instances students have been selected for honorable mention. 

2023 Sadat Art for Peace Competition Entry

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2022 Competition

The winners for the 2022 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Islamophobia" are: 

Zijie Zhu - first prize for "лотос"

Category: 3-Dimensional

Media: Mixed-media 

Lotuses emerge from the muddy current of the ponds; pure, peaceful, and enchanting. Its luscious green leaves reach for heaven. It hides precious roots under the dark water while presenting its nutritious seed to the world above. In addition to the fact that its medicinal properties can relieve pain, treat bleeding disorders, etc., it is known in Asian culture to represent purity and prosperity.
The essential aspect of this artwork is to promote positivity, balance, and healing. Under the occurrent world condition, there is needless innocent bloodshed for unjustified action of political leaders; people are being discriminated against because of their religious belief, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. It is the poison that slowly segregates our society. We all need a place to heal and to redirect our energy to be hopeful again.

 

Su Han - second prize for "Insidious"

Category: 3-Dimensional

Media: Wood and found metal objects

"Insidious" evokes the hope and intensity of Islamic art to dilute and dissipate the corruptive effects of racism. The arachnid-like bottom structure is sharp and angular, painted black with the darkness and ignorance that infects the unaware. As this threatening form attempts to penetrate the grate, the grate forces a change in its form until the structure becomes more and more rounded and lighter in color. The geometric and floral, almost vegetal aspects of the design elicit an extrusion of the form until it is a vague abstraction of the nightmare that was. It speaks to the gentle tidal wave of Islamic art that initiates change and empathy.

 

Hosna Shahramipoor - First prize for "A thousand needles"

Category: 2-Dimensional

Media: Photography with physical manipulation

The targets of islamophobia are most often Muslim women rather than men, because of the hijab. Muslim women find themselves at the edge of a double-sided coin—one side being the embrace of their customs, the other being the painful discrimination brought upon by the judgment of non-Muslims. Many Muslim women remain silent in the face of the many adversities and hardships this conundrum brings upon them. In my self-portrait with a hijab and a thousand needles sticking out from my face, each of these countless needles represents a biased attitude, emerging, transformed, into metaphorical self-defense mechanisms.

 

Casey Taira - Second prize for "Heritage"

Category: 2-Dimensional

Media: Acrylic paint on wood

Born from prejudice and hatred, Islamophobia is something that invades all aspects of life. It permeates the bipartisan walls of congress and slinks under the closed doors of classrooms. It manifests itself in microaggressions on the streets of this “free” country and makes itself known through the news on our televisions. And within each action of a headscarf being yanked down, of a blanketed heckle, or of an assault on the subway, exists a quiet genocide against the culture and religion of Muslim communities seeking refuge from war-torn homelands.
The mental and emotional burden, carried by a group ostracized, weighs infinitely on the young–on the next generation meant to pass on the teachings. How can a community survive when assimilation threatens its customs with erasure? How can those of the future bear the pressure of a waning legacy? This piece speaks about the fear and apprehension invoked by the daunting responsibility of chasing a threatened connection. However, it also highlights the hope and resilience that individuals who tread this thorny path possess.

 

Haoran Li - Third prize for "Legacy"

Category: 2-Dimensional

Media: Acrylic on canvas

A greater appreciation for Islamic architecture and art has entered the public consciousness in recent years. From buildings, paintings, and textiles integrating arches and geometric design, we can see the impact of Islamic art in our everyday lives. It is a shame to co-opt this beauty while simultaneously condemning and discriminating against the culture that created it. Art is and should continue to be, a celebration of identity.

 

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2021 Competition

The winners for the 2021 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Black Lives Matter" are:

Daniel Merkowtiz-Bustos- first prize for "Intolerable"

Category: 3-Dimensional

Media: Cement, paint, latex gloves

Racial discrimination. Lack of funding. Lack of access. In a system meant to protect a person’s well-being, this disparity is unacceptable. Lack of insurance. Lack of prenatal care. Lack of medication. These are the realities of the American healthcare system when addressing black lives. Death. Infant Death. In highly disproportionate numbers for the black community. These are not things that can be ignored. We must face these issues head on; reckon with this broken system and change it. These disparities must not be tolerated any longer. Now is the time for change. Black Lives Matter.

In general the colors represent conflict. As contrasting colors, the gloves represent the conflict in morals of the healthcare system; an institution that is meant to protect but causes harm. More specifically I had purple, often a symbol of power, there to depict the resilience of the black community. Yellow can be representative of deceit, representing the betrayal of the black community in the medical system.

 

Milan Warner- second prize for "Little Identities"

The curls and kinks of black hair is a crucial part of black culture with roots stemming deep within black history. Hair is used as a vessel for self-expression and is tied to a person’s identity. Throughout history, various laws and policies are put in place that ban certain types of hairstyles used by black people that are meant to force assimilation into Eurocentric standards and plant the idea of Afrocentric inferiority. Still today, black hair styles are often deemed to be “unprofessional” or “distracting” in schools and other professional environments. Black women and young black girls particularly face discriminatory policies that were made with the very intention to erase their black identities. It is also often the case that young black girls are primed to hate their Afrocentric features whether it be their hair, skin, or face which in turn causes them to reject and try to erase essential parts of their identities. As I have found myself in this position many years ago as a young girl, I decided to use my own hair painted in white to tell one small story among millions of others.

 

Nia Parks- first prize for "Reclaimed"

Category: 2-Dimensional 

Media: Ink Transfer, Cyanotype, Colored India Ink, Tissue Paper

This work is to commemorate the role of the Black Lives Matter movement in reclaiming the narrative of Black people’s agency in their freedom and fight against racially motivated injustices. As with the BLM movement, this piece is an expression of the power in claiming your agency.

Littered with loose representations of John Quincy Adams Ward’s Freedman (1863) and Thomas Ball’s The Freedman’s Memorial (Emancipation Group) (1879), the background signifies the pull between the incomplete promise of emancipation and the idea that Black people lack agency of their own. However, the Black Lives Matter movement is proof of a third perspective; that we are our own agency.

The shooting police officer is representative of the many deadly forms of systemic racism including but not limited to police brutality, the criminal justice system, education, and housing disparities. The cyanotype and red ink splatter appear to come from the same gun to express racism and its ongoing effects. The blasting of the same gun spews the looming shadow of history past, symbolized by the cyanotype of a singular cotton branch. Blood red ink splatter marking the violence that continues to plague this country. The branch, broken as a gleam of hope that the bond of past horrors can be broken by tireless work of protest. The break in the branch symbolizes emancipation but the cotton branch is not drastically altered. The process of creating the cyanotype speaks closest to its meaning; once cyanotype has been exposed and the cotton removed, an imprint remains that symbolizes the aftermath or historical consequence of slavery. The red, white, and blue color scheme and tangibility of the cotton branch signifies the permanent mark slavery has made on America. We are agents of change.

This is why we must defend Black Lives Matter.

 

Randa Gahima- Organization & Mobilization 21'

 

Everyone is different, we all come from different cultures and experiences, but we are all one in the same. With all the social injustices and racial inequality, we experience in this world, I wanted to emphasize the idea of mobilizing and organizing people in my community in ways to improve the Black Lives Matter movement. Organizing is bringing people of different backgrounds and mobilizing is working with the people you have gathered to ensure we push to the next step to get the job get done. I was inspired by African culture and incorporated certain aspects of it into this piece. The wide nose, the tribal patterns, the street sign influence from the civil rights movements, the horn to amplify voices of those who want to be heard. The quote “All Power To All The People” from the Black Panther Party and their message. All the figures are close together and tight knit, symbolizing fighting racism not with racism but with solidarity and comradery. As a young black man being able to express this through art is important to me.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2020 Competition

The winners for the 2020 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Democracy Challenged" are:

Rachel Abe- first prize for "Three Branches"

Category: 3- Dimensional 

Media: Pinewood

I view my sculpture as our collective voice of democracy. We the People are the fundamental backbone that keeps everything grounded amidst a potentially precarious system. It is my intention for this piece to represent the division of power, and how it can either support or pull us down.

In order to facilitate our ability to affect government there must be effective systems. I am proposing that the oval forms are the three supporting branches of power: Legislative, Execute, and Judicial. Democracy is composed of several checks and balances. One interpretation is that they have the ability to support our ideas, while another is that the constant indecision causes systems to seem fragile, like this sculpture.

An example for the latter is if I were to remove one of the tripod legs, the sculpture would lack stability and likely fall flat. An even quicker way to destabilize the sculpture is to take away the center support -- our choice. This would render the three oval forms useless with no dimension or purpose. I want my sculpture to emphasize how the balancing act requires not only three branches, but four vital powers, because our voice is what allows our democracy to be free.

 

Meg Clerc- first prize for "Prologue: Red, White, and Blue"

Category: 2- Dimensional 

Media: Screenprint, used book pages

We have barely begun to write the story of democracy. From ancient Athens, to the French Revolution, to our own American government, "rule by the people" has meant rule by the few, excluding women, people of color, and the poor. Today, there is so much to be hopeful about as we celebrate the advances we have made towards inclusion. Still, there are many challenges to overcome. Fragile and complex like democracy itself, this work asks the question we must constantly ask ourselves: How will we use our human capacities for compassion, creativity, and intelligence to construct a better society and write a truer version of the democratic story.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2019 Competition

The winners for the 2019 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Immigrants and Identity in America" are:

Cory Carrasco- first prize for "The Divide"

Category: 2- Dimensional 

Media: acrylic paint, acrylic, india ink on canvas

 

On one side: economic prosperity, wealth, and safety 

On the other side: economic turmoil, poverty, and violence

Within the Trump Administration, there has been a clear separation between those who are Americans and those who are illegal immigrants. As an American that comes from a family of illegal immigrants, I find myself right in the middle. I have experienced first-hand how difficult it can be for a family of illegal immigrants, to establish themselves in a country that one day offers economic prosperity, wealth, and safety, but the other day may turn them away and send them back to the place that offers only economic turmoil, poverty, and violence. Not offering a solution but rather avoiding it by building a wall is not the answer. A wall impedes compromise. It only aids in the continuation and even increase in the sorrow and suffering of those that need help and deserve an opportunity to better themselves. 

 

Mason Hurley- first prize for "Reflection"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: steel, stainless steel 

 

She is looking to the future. 

She is holding on to the past. 

The past is holding on to her. 

 

She wants a future full of promise.

She wants to remember. 

She holds on to her past. 

 

The future looks bright. 

The past looked hopeless. 

There is now hope. 

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2018 Competition

The winners for the 2018 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Confronting Prejudice and Hate" are:

Irene Pantelis- first prize for "Oil and Water"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Ink, linseed oil, water on paper

It is often said that oil and water do not mix. Yet, when one places them at the same time on a surface, they come together forming blots and swirls as they dry. One element shapes the other until they find a perfect balance. If one adds ink to the mix, the blotting and swirling of the water and oil draw a pattern on the surface, a pattern that I imagine as an ancient one, the strength of which lies in the coexistence of materials that have a different density and polarity.

 

Kari Gillman- first prize for "The Beauty of a Woman's Agency"

Category: 3- Dimensional 

Media: Screen-printing and Painting on Fabric

The current political climate that has advocated for the consideration of compelling Muslims to register in databases, and an attempted travel ban impacting seven majority-Muslim countries, has sown the seeds of panic and hysteria in our country. Islamophobia rocks our nation today while Anti-Muslim hate crimes rose significantly in 2016 and surpassed the peak of assaults against Muslims in 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The majority of the victims were “visible” Muslim women, especially those wearing head coverings.

Muslim women’s bodies are subjected to political actions and regulation within Western societies in the name of preserved national identities, national security, and gender equality. For instance, France implemented a ban on wearing a burqa or niqab in public spaces, resulting in socially acceptable discrimination against women who wish to express her faith through modesty.

The yellow and gold patterning on the Hijab sculpture is a graph depicting the rise of these hate crimes in the U.S. With the use of colors commonly associated with beauty, richness, and value, I want to demonstrate the hijab as a symbol of choice and women’s ability to think and act independently. It is time to recognize the beauty in different faiths and ways of life. It is time for women to have agency of their own body. It is time to stop letting ignorance of the unknown dictate America’s attitude of hatred and prejudice.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2017 Competition

The winners for the 2017 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "The Trump Presidency and the World" are: 

Meirav Finn- first prize for "Fester, Swell and Conquer"

Category: 2- Dimensional 

Media: Mixed media

Fester, Swell and Conquer
Wounds treated correctly heal without scars.
Ones that don’t, get infected.
Infected wounds treated correctly heal with scars.
Ones that don’t…

Hugh Condrey Bryant- first prize for "Divisive, He Stands. United, He Falls."

Category: 3- Dimensional 

Media: Fabricated steel and used motor oil 

This object of fabricated steel is representative of the clumsy, brutish, and reckless ways in which this administration is using its power. It is a tool that does not help to fix, but instead is meant to damage and destroy. Not a weapon mind you, but a tool for the purpose of demolition. It is a heavy spade meant to destructively cleave and divide. Its design speaks to Trump’s potential to drive a wedge between us with xenophobic sentiments, breaking global partnerships for the sake of corporate interests and throwing caution to the wind with diplomacy via twitter... This object is welded heavily and its black patina is the result of burning it in used motor oil. Conceptually, these processes and materials represent the industries Trump has promised to improve. He promises things not for the sake of the American people and their well-being, but instead for the sake of corporate profit with no regard for the people or the environment. This object, much like this administration, is indelicate, unthinking, and indifferent to consequences at home and abroad. 

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2016 Competition

The winners for the 2016 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "The Refugee Crisis" are:

Rachael Carruthers- first prize for "20 Million"

Category: 2- Dimensional 

Media: Screen print on paper

In 2014, the UN estimated there were almost 20 million refugees worldwide. 
20 million.
A number that continues to grow every day. 
A number so large the human brain fails to comprehend it as individual units,
Imagined instead as a faceless homogenous mass devoid of human experience.
A number that eliminates the individual and their complex past, goals, and future.
A number we must break down in order to understand each unit as a person, 
Each with their own contribution to humanity, 
Each with their own inviolable right to live free from oppression. 

 

Sobia Ahmad- second prize for "The Fear" 

 

These tiny mosques made of famous western towers are representative of the widespread fear that is preventing us from showing human empathy towards those feeling horrors of war.

 

Grace Murphy- first prize for "With the World on Your Back"

Category: 3- Dimensional 

Media: Mixed media

"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous."
-Surah 2. Al-Baqara, Ayah 177 (The Holy Quran)

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2015 Competition

The winners for the 2015 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "How have the 9/11 tragedy and our government's reaction to it changed us and the world around us? How can an artist express this change in a single piece of art?" are:

Grant McFarland - first prize for "Casuality"

Category: 2- Dimensional

I was 8 when the two towers fell. The decade and a half since that day has seen war waged across the Middle East. To me, this is the true legacy of 9/11. This piece highlights the casuality with which we view death in other parts of the world compared to in our own country. The burned wood represents the civilian death toll from 9/11 (2,996 shown on the bottom piece) and the civilian death toll in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan (over 190,000 on the top). The charcoal streaks represent the number of months when the civilian casualties in the Iraq War exceeded the number of those killed in the 9/11 attacks. 

 

Sobia Ahmad - first prize for "Arbitrary Boundaries"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen. Each of these countries differs drastically from the other politically, culturally, religiously, and ethnically. These differences make them each uniquely beautiful. Clumped together, however, by the U.S. government as sites for drone attacks, they become an unrecognizable mass, losing their idiosyncratic beauty. Clumped together, these countries become just a mass of arbitrary boundaries.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2014 Competition

The winners for the 2014 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Overcoming Mistrust" are:

Janet Ibrahim - first prize for "Barrier/Void"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Plexiglass

The plexiglass embodies an illusion of clarity. Its transparent surface promises certainty but casts reflections, clouding perspective. The perimeter of the void is charred, evidence of a force penetrating through a barrier between false perception and reality.

 

Andrew Burans - first prize for "Nails"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Nails and Wooden Box

It becomes a near impossible task for women who have been sexually assaulted to overcome the mistrust they feel towards the societal institutions in place in the world that allows such atrocities to occur and go unreported. A key component of feminist theory towards the end of the 20th century is the concept of the male gaze. It is the idea that women within today’s patriarchal society are expected and forced to perform certain gender roles that are deemed appropriate by men. It objectifies women’s bodies by reducing them to machine parts denied of their humanity, and their main purpose becomes serving as tools to satisfy masculine sexual desires. I have chosen to represent women in my piece as nails to reflect the object status the male gaze reduces women to within patriarchal society.

According to a 2010 study by the Center for Public Integrity, 95% of the sexual assaults that occur on college campuses go unreported. The 95 rusty nails I hammered into the bottom of the box represent the college sexual assault instances that go unreported and the five rusted nails inside the box represent the ones that do get reported. I chose to rust the nails that represent sexual assault victims because, within the male gaze, rape tarnishes women, reducing their value as sexual objects, much in the same way rust makes nails useless. These rusty nails stand in direct contrast to the gold nails in the box that are still useful. The box is meant to represent society, and the 95 rusty nails are hidden beneath it reflecting how women faced with sexual assault feel cut off from and pushed out of a society that has denied them of their humanity. The five rusted nails in the box represent women who have reported their cases of sexual assaults and are trying to perform the difficult task of reintegrating themselves into society. Patriarchal society has a horrific tendency to blame sexual assault victims and publicly shame them when these cases are brought to trial and reported in the news, which as opposed to solving the problem, makes things worse for the victims by increasing their visibility (why I decided to make the five rusty nails in the box larger than the rest). My piece is about drawing attention to how women who have been sexually assaulted face the extremely difficult task of trying to overcome the mistrust they feel towards a society that presents them with the option of either reporting their assault and being publicly shamed or leaving it hidden without the hope of ever overcoming the violence that has been done to them.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2013 Competition

The winners for the 2013 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Toleration and Peace" are:

Neal Flynn - first prize for "Momentum"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Ink on paper

When two objects of unequal mass move towards each other they collide and then move apart again coexist.

 

Max Neumann - first prize for "A World Bound Forever"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Aluminum and rope

We live in a world that often feels unstable and on the verge of unraveling like a rope. It may not be the most beautiful thing, but it will always be your home. To strengthen our home, we need a foundation of peace and tolerance. However, to achieve real strength and beauty, tolerance is not enough. Tolerance is “the capacity to endure.” We also need acceptance, “the favorable reception of an idea, opinion or belief.” We have the potential to make our entire world amazing and that will require acceptance, support, and love of all who inhabit its home. Acceptance of those around us is the treasure we so desperately need to allow our world to shine bright. This globe is made from rope and casted aluminum. The aluminum and its shine represent the potential beauty that our world possesses and the treasure that it is. The rope signifies that despite our cultural, theological and philosophical differences we are bound together in our responsibility to protect our planet, and it reminds us that we must be united to achieve peace and tolerance or we may unravel and fall apart.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2012 Competition

The winners for the 2012 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Dignity" are:

Jason Hughes - first prize for "Another Day, Another Dollar"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: American Currency

Since 2007, I have been weaving with shredded money as a means to explore the ideas of labor, value, and self-worth. For many people, dignity is achieved through the work that they do; the ability to provide for their loved ones, honor through contributing to the betterment of society, or simply pride because of a job well done. My highly crafted and meticulous works not only illustrate a painstaking process, but they also highlight the disparity between skilled labor and industry in the United States. If there are no jobs for people to find strength through, then the social fabric begins to erode and individuals lose hope for what the future may hold. A fundamental shift must take place within the United States that will move us away from the ongoing devaluation of skilled labor and industry, towards self-empowerment and dignity through hard work, education, and sense of purpose.

 

Mark Earnhart - first prize for "Tangible"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Bronze, Leather

Dignity isn’t something tangible, easily defined or readily apparent without negative circumstance. It is most often spoken about when something has been stripped away by overwhelming forces. It is the ideal, the thing that doesn’t need to be defined, until it is in peril of being discovered missing. Dignity is intentionally ambiguous, evoking decency, rights and respect. In a just world this concept would not need to be regulated, it would simply exist. The sculpture “Tangible” is a visual affirmation of a moment where dignity is on the verge of being lost. The form of a sandwich refers to the layering of what constitutes dignity, the sum of its parts. It is also about human sustenance, hand to hand connected interaction and the weight of disparaging global circumstance.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2011 Competition

The winners for the 2011 Sadat Art for Peace Competition "Heeding The Voice Of The People" are:

Fawna Xiao - first prize for "One and Two"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Screen Print

Peace is a from of balance. This balance is at it's most fragile and important when between a people and its leader. It realies on the power that the people invests in the leader, and the leader heeding the voice of the people.

I created two elements within one space; one is the absence of the other. They can be two characters, two countries, or two ideas. They exist simultaneously -- two creatures living in peace, despite their differences. I created them to be unequal, but still balanced, like any relationship between a leader and his or her people. One man leading a country is balanced against the entire population of his country. Such is the relationship between the two elements in the print. One is the voice of the people -- and one is the listener.

 

Jesse Burrowes - first prize for "Ear-Horn"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Metal and Rubber

 

 

Heeding the voice of the people is the never-ending task of political figures. The voice itself is an amalgamation different wills and impulses that have been spun and pressed to fit into the broad themes of cultural moralities. Listening is a public action, and the test of effective leadership is the ability to cull from the cacophony of mediatized voices and find the pulse of public expression. Given the global political events of the past few months, the declarations of the public in some countries have been so articulate it is hard to see how these pronouncements could be repressed. Sometimes stated terms become so unanimous that they are impossible to ignore.

This object is an old squeezable automobile horn of which the bell has been replaced with an ear. The irony of a listening device that produces an alarming honk represents the compromised call and response of political dialogue. This object is functional as a facilitator to the public act of hearing in the traditions of an expressive hoot. It is an exclamation point that can be added to any sentiment, it could be aggressive and poignant. This device may also be used to help wake some powerful people who may have nodded off.

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2010 Competition

The winners for the 2010 Sadat Art for Peace Competition are:

Sarah Martin - first prize for "Baquba"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Painting

 

 

“Peace is inextricably linked to collaboration and sweat and sacrifice. People surrender parts of themselves, like the ingredients to a balm, and the mediation between these ingredients synergizes into a force of will that is greater than the summation of its parts. It can’t  be achieved by one person alone. In Iraq, car bombers target voting stations, hoping to squash the foundations of peace. Al-Qaeda threatens to murder anyone who goes to vote. And still, one by one, Iraqis dip their fingertips in ink after casting a ballot, symbolically adding their small measure of hope to the mix: less than an inch of flesh, a smudge of faith, everyman’s duty in the tip of a finger.

This piece is charcoal, graphite, and acrylic paint on paper. During the process of making Baquba, I noticed my own fingers turn black with charcoal dust. I wanted to document the marks so I laid out strips of packing tape and blotted the black stains from my hands. These layers of fingerprints and skin cells are then laid like a film over the work, a self-made membrane that documents an intimate sacrifice in order to create something larger, more complete.”

 

JL Stewart Watson - first prize for "Mediated"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Sculpture - Bronze, Linen, Down Feathers

 

“ Even when opposing countries want to come to a peaceful solution to their problems, the infrastructure by which they operate can make these meetings difficult or impossible. In these situations, mediators can be the most important resource.

The bronze and feather down filled mediums of this sculpture refer to the different tactics by which countries and their citizens communicate internationally. Some countries in the midst of negotiations are static and unable to compromise. Others, that are soft and malleable, can find their concerns crushed under the weight of bigger, more powerful nations.

The key to successful mediation is becoming a facilitator which connects the two; helping each to come to an understanding of the other and realizing the benefits of peaceful coexistence. By tilting the bronze loop back, the feather filled fabric is able to wrap around and button closed without being crushed. Mediated expresses the peaceful results of working out differences and finding that delicate and necessary balance achieved through international communication.”

 

Sadat Art for Peace 2009 Competition

Samuel Moore - first prize for "Unity"

Category: 3- Dimensional

Media: Sculpture - Bronze cast

 

“This casting represents the difference in foreign policy that the United States will see over the next four years with its two distinct halves. The war on terror has proved to be a tough fight. While former President Bush did what he saw was best for the American people, the war has mostly bred insurgency and animosity towards the United States. Obama’s foreign policy will revitalize relations in the Middle East, bringing a more orderly and joint effort to combat terror. The geometric base of this piece represents this solid joint effort. While the bottom of this piece represents order and unity, the top represents the freedom that comes from solidarity. The top needs the support of the base, just as the freedom that Obama wishes to provide will fall without a renewed relationship with our global partners. This piece is not strictly about the Middle East. It is a global piece, representing the same unity and freedom throughout the world. During the Bush era, America became a target of criticism by not only our enemies, but our allies as well.  The Obama administration seeks to solve this and try to regain the good standing that America once had. It is only through joint cooperation that Obama will be able to support the freedom that the world desires.”

 

Malena Barnhart - first prize for "Interaction"

Category: 2- Dimensional

Media: Painting - Latex Paint, Soft gel, Photographic transfers, India Ink

 

“Foreign policy during the Obama administration seems to be moving away from the aggression and isolation that has stigmatized the United States during the last eight years.  This piece is meant to evoke the magnitude of the task that the administration now approaches.”

 

***Sadat Art for Peace 2008 Competition*** (powerpoint) 

 

The winners for the 2004 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by former President of Ireland Mary Robinson are:

Cal A. Lee - first prize for "Battle Rattles"

Category: 3- Dimensional

These rattles were conceived form my own experience with war and conflict; my Grandfather's tales of serving in World War II; my Father, who deployed for his second tour of duty in Vietnam shortly after my birth; and my own deployment 25 years later for the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

I present these rattles not only to all the children who have lost a parent to war or who wait for one to return home, but also, to those who live daily with the terror of war and those who live in its remnants.

So, while these rattles were born from and speak of conflict, let them speak more loudly of hope in that same breath.

 

Tai Hwa Goh – first prize for "Getting Dark"

Category: 2- Dimensional

The more devices (such as weapons) are created and developed to make peaceful world, the more our world gets unmerciful and destructed.  The more powerful shields are created, the stronger spears and mutated monsters will be born.  Men will not stop it until we get mortality.  Every effort to make our world bright is maybe making the world darker.  What can we do?  Is it the only thing we can do to accept our darkness?

The winners for the 2002 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on November 13, 2002 are:

 

Ruth Bowler - first prize for "Overlap": 

Category: 2- Dimensional

When I think of peace, I am unconsciously drawn to a distinct space.  I call this space overlap.  It is the moment after we realize each other's differences and the moment before we decide what to do with them.  In this fluid, negotiable space, the possibility of peace exists.

 

Marilee Schumann - first prize for "First Stone" 

Category: 3- Dimensional 

Perhaps stone was the first weapon to be used by humans.  Even now stones are thrown at soldiers and police in Northern Ireland and in Palestine.  Stones are still thrown to punish and kill women in some countries.

If the stone is the first weapon, let us bury the stone in layers of meaning and pages of words, in art and poetry, in all the wrappings and trappings of human culture, until stones are no longer weapons, but the subject and the object of works of art, the material of building and of rebuilding what has been destroyed.

The winners for the 2001 competition in conjunction with the Sadat Lecture for Peace delivered by Nelson Mandela, Former President, The Republic of South Africa, November 14, 2001are:

David Page - first prize for "Sakvol Klippietjies" (little bag of rocks)

 

Category: 3- Dimensional

In discussions of "peace" and "reconciliation," these words often become platitudes, desirable, but meaningless.  What is omitted from the debate is an understanding of the mechanics or the properties of lasting peace.

It is not surprising that the lack of conflict is often mistaken for peace.

The search for peace is futile, because we are looking for the wrong thing.  If we seek peace, we can at best hope for a truce.  Meaningful peace is simply a fortunate by-product of a diligent quest for justice.  It is this necessary struggle inherent in the quest for justice that I seek to honor.

A little more than a year ago, I visited Robben Island, the infamous former prison off the cost of Cape Town.  For the latter half of the twentieth century it exclusively housed political prisoners, the most prominent of whom was Nelson Mandela.  The primary activity was the quarrying of limestone on the island.  The activity was extended into the bleak prison courtyard, where the inmates would reduce the rock to even smaller pieces with four-pound hammers.  To many of the younger political prisoners, this courtyard was considered the "Finest University on Earth" because of their proximity to the greatest political minds of the Southern African subcontinent.

This cliched prison activity of breaking rocks can be seen as a metaphor for steadfastness and resolve, facing nearly impossible odds, the act of breaking the rocks symbolizes the sacrifice and struggle to overcome those odds.  For this reason, I chose shards of limestone as the primary material for this piece.  Once broken, the rock cannot be reconstituted, even if all the pieces are put back together, the change is irreversible.  The collection of fragments, tightly bound together, illustrate both transformation and unity. The forged steel loop represents the will of those who refused to see their situation as hopeless or their position as inferior.

 

Virginia Blanca Arrisueno - first prize for "Media and Its Words"

Category: 2- Dimensional

"Media and Its Words" shows several images of a woman's face presented on a t.v. shaped screen. On her face, words are neatly inscribed in proportional rows providing evidence that she was not the one that wrote on her skin.  Instead, someone else wrote on her face.  The terms presented are words related to the recent attacks.  Words such as "bio-warfare, death, and evil-doings" are neatly written across her skin.  The woman's facial expression is indifferent.  She does not show any emotions and refuses to look at the viewer.  Essentially, the woman does not know how to react to the words on her face.

I believe that the media influences the majority of people's opinions concerning the attacks.  In essence, the media throws out various words onto the public to persuade them to support the United States.  As a result, many Americans form their opinions based on what they see on t.v. rather than researching more on the situation through other sources.  In some cases, individuals like myself question the validity of the media's statements.  Are my opinions considerably influenced by the media.  Are my opinions based on true facts.  As a result, people like myself are left alone only to absorb the words and hopefully organize them in a coherent manner.  Although the media's tactic is beneficial and patriotic, I believe that the solution for peace is not only persuasion of the masses but also helping the American population better understand what is going on in the world.  If every person, foreign and non-foreign, took the time to fully understand the situation nationally and internationally, I believe that the rate of violence would decrease significantly.