2011 Winners

Three Countries, Ma Late, Burma (First Prize) My journey from Burma to Thailand and Australia. My hope and dreams for Karen people and countries they live in.

Glass designer, Nasrullah Qannadian, Afghanistan (Second Prize) Angelina Jolie. She is a famous and star person. She is also a beautiful lady who helps poor people. I hope people recognise my art and ability on glass work.

Pa dow, Se Vang, Laos (Third Prize) Surviving the hard life and war to give children a better life. The theme of the exhibition means for me as being able to live and do things the way I want without limitations. Art creation is the way I can express myself in the traditional way.

Pin Cushion, Rubaba Haider, Afghanastan (Newly Arrived Prize) An invasive stomach surgery that my mother went through a few years back. It was then that I decided to express her emotions during these days and after the treatment, trough my art. I used fabrics, needles, stitches and different knots as metaphors for the actual wound and surgery. I painted memories from her past as references. It is the close-up of a pin cushion on which my mum stuck her needles on. The form on the fabric created through the needles were very similar to the surgical wound on her stomach, which was interesting for me to paint and create dialogue with the viewer, instead of painting a wound directly. Now in Australia, I have an opportunity and a better chance of looking after my mother and pursuing my career as an artist.

Special Mentions

A moment shared, Sutueal Bekele, Ethiopia (Special Mention) Here in present while in the rich colourful world, the opportunity to achieve something is never ending. We embrace our culture and custom while allowing others to be a part of it. We can easily hold each others hands for the similar ideas we believe in, support others to visualise their way of dreams and lights, fulfilling our own dreams by rasing our children with love and peace along with the culture we were brought up in. During all this, often we will climb on our dream horses and drift away towards those who are still heading to the mountains to be seen. Somehow our dreams and hope keeps floating in circles. We struggle to hold on to it, in fact it is always forcing its way toward ourselves.

The Wall of Hopes, Alyana Eau, Iraq (Special Mention) An old wall I looked up at once when I was a little kid, it was during a family trip to Saint Mary's Church at a nearby town in Iraq. Whilst visiting the place, I saw people from different age groups and genders standing next to a wall of that church, sliding small rocks on the wall, and making wishes. According to them, if the small rocks stay on the wall, the wish is granted. I too slid the rocks on the wall and strangely enough, some rocks stayed. The moment with the wall in the church lived with me ever since as I strongly felt the connection, the power of human being…Through my work I have expressed the wall and the interlocking of people. To Australia, I brought with me 'the wall' I once looked at, the realisation I had whilst dreaming…and this is why I am now sharing it equally with all.

Displaced, Minela Krupic, Bosnia (Special Mention) Displacement, exile, feeling confused about one's own identity and belonging. Trying to find one's home. Arriving to an unknown place, lost at first, then found, but still searching.

The Unforgetable, Elvis Lopez, El Salvador (Special Mention) What I left behind as a boy, images that I witnessed and that I need to express and finally let go the suffering and fear of what human kind is capable of doing.

Sunshine, Sayed Murtaza Mosawi, Afghanistan (Special Mention) This artwork is about hope, just stay to survive that stormy and heavy rain full night (Difficulties). You will find morning a peaceful and shiny day.

Printed Matter (t-shirt), Haong Tran, Vietnam (Special Mention) For me, the idea of Heartlands is central to the political and cultural crisis of refugees in Australia; displaced people trying to enter a land yet to properly deal with it's colonial past. The public's reception and perception of refugees has been hijacked by a media cycle that focuses on xenophobia and supposed illegality, repressing the actual plight of refugees and allowing misplaced fear to circumvent any productive dialogue. The image on the t-shirt is a photograph taken in 2007 of a texta-graffiti found on a park bench. What hope for the aspirations of someone forced to flee their homeland when such sentiment persists. T-shirts are a popular form of political expression. I wanted to see what happens to this graffiti when it is photographed and printed on a t-shirt; what happens to its power?

Waterlilies, Ali Tawfek, Iraq (Special Mention) The entanglements of my life. The water is reflective but chaotic at the same time. However the lilies symbolise hope + dreams + the move beautiful side to life.

Always look on the bright side of life, Q. C. Trieu, Vietnam (Special Mention) Looking on the bright side of life no matter what we are faced with. The boat journey of refugee is often a treacherous one, but they are intent on pursuing this path because they can only foresee a positive, bright future. Unfortunately, many lives often end up as fragments of the sea.