04/30/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2024 13:22
The UNESCO Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads photo contest, part of the Organization's Silk Roads Programme of the Social and Human Sciences Sector, promotes photography as a tool for encouraging cultural interaction, fostering mutual understanding, and promoting peace among the people living in the regions connected by the Silk Roads.
This year, the theme of the 6th edition is "Life Celebrations", inviting young photographers to explore and capture the essence of cultural celebrations along the historic Silk Roads. This theme is more relevant than ever in the current global landscape marked by escalating conflicts, economic instability, and the climate crisis, where young people are facing unprecedented levels of discouragement. Visually capturing and celebrating life also aims to engage youth in positive and hopeful paths and create a digital space to foster this mindset.
Photographers exploring the theme of "Life Celebrations" along the Silk Roads might capture the following:
Photo entries will be examined by an International Selection Committee composed of the following photographers: GMB Akash (Bangladesh), Fatimah Hossaini (Afghanistan), Liang Li (China), Mustafa Seven (Türkiye), and Osama Silwadi (Palestine).
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The Silk Roads in short
For thousands of years the Silk Roads have been an extensive network of trade and communication routes which have connected civilizations and brought peoples and cultures from across the world into contact with each other. As well as permitting the exchange of merchandise, they facilitated the interaction of ideas, cuisines, languages and fashions, shaping the modern cultures and identities of the contemporary world. The Silk Roads linked vast areas of the world - originating in East Asia, South Asia, and South-east Asia, then crossing Central Asia, the Russian steppe and Indian subcontinent, the Iranian and Anatolian plateaux, and the Arabian Peninsula. They also stretch through North and North-east Africa, from Tanzania to Morocco, before passing through Eastern and Southern Europe, reaching France and the Iberian Peninsula.
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At a time when societies, as well as educational and cultural institutions continue to be disrupted, this contest provides an opportunity for young people to share their creativity and vision for a new and more inclusive world where tolerance and intercultural dialogue help people understand each other and live together in peace. In this context, UNESCO, through its many initiatives, is trying to support learning, access to knowledge and education, and to engage youth.