Freedom To Create

global-freedom-to-createThe Global Freedom to Create Prize honors artists who champion the cause of human rights and encourage others to stand up for the freedom to create.  Orient Global, a private investment group based in Singapore, established the contest in 2008 with the belief that “creative freedom is powerful…prosperous societies are founded upon creativity…and societies that encourage artistic expression build foundations for economic, social, and cultural development.”  In 2008, over 900 artists competed for three awards:

  • Main Prize. For individuals or groups. The winner receives US$50,000. Second prize, US$15,000. Third prize, US$10,000.  Award monies will be divided evenly between the artist/group and a nominated advocacy organization.
  • Imprisoned Artist Prize. For artists currently imprisoned for defending human rights.  The winner receives US$25,000 to support family, pay legal costs and promote advocacy.
  • Youth Prize. For individuals or groups under the age of 18. The winner receives US$10,000 for an educational scholarship and US$15,000 for help with advocacy.

Last year’s winner was Zimbabwean playwright Cont Mhlanga, whose 2007 play “The Good President” was banned for its alleged lampooning of Robert Mugabe. The deadline to apply for this year’s contest is August 3, 2009.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 12:10 PM. It is filed under Global, Prizes & Awards and tagged with , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Comments are closed.