The Art of Equality
SEED Foundation launched the The Art of Equality competition to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and in an effort to promote gender equality in Kurdistan and promote the positive portrayal of women and girls in art and the media. Young artists aged 15-35 were invited to submit their artwork on the topic of gender equality and positive and empowering portrayals of women and girls. The competition, which ran from November 8th till 29th, 2020, was a huge success and SEED received a staggering 92 submissions! The level of participation and excellent submissions demonstrated that young artists are ready to engage in critical ways to advance the cause of gender equality.
A panel of esteemed international and national judges, including diplomats, KRG officials, artists, and NGOs, evaluated the 20 top submissions. Based on the judges’ evaluations, the winners’ artworks highlighted, in their own unique ways, gender equality and showed positive and empowering portrayals of women.
1st place: Mariam Adamat, ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ (Woman, Life, Freedom)
2nd place: Soniya Ahmed, ‘Us and We’
3rd place: Zinah Jamal, ‘Let Equality Bloom’
Our thanks to all of the inspiring artists who made submissions and all the judges for their participation. Let’s continue the fight for gender equality together!
Competition Guidelines
Meet the Judges
Art of Equality Submissions
From a total of 92 submissions these are the top 20 finalists.
Zinah Jamal
Zinah Jamal This painting, Let Equality Bloom, represents gender equality in the world of work. How women can be anything from a painter, entrepreneur, lawyer, [...]
Zina
Zina No matter how much violence and inequality women are subjected to, there is always a little girl in their souls; she is happy, free, [...]
Soniya Ahmed
Soniya Ahmed The purpose of this painting, Us and We, is to identify and challenge social stigma and to promote gender equality in a Kurdish [...]
Shatoo Kamaran Ahmed
Shatoo Kamaran Ahmed I started this painting in February, 2020. This artwork holds a very special place in my heart, it's an image of a [...]
Naska Omar Rafat
Naska Omar Rafat I believe that the beauty of pictures is in the message and image they leave in the minds of others. In this [...]
Mariam Armitnaya
Mariam Armitnaya My work (collage) captures Inanna, the ancient Sumerian goddess of fertility, love, and procreation. She is known as Ishtar in the Akkadian and [...]
Mariam Adamat
Mariam Adamat I made this artwork recently to symbolize the power of women and how they are the backbone of our country. This piece shows [...]
Maram Omar Dawod
Maram Omar Dawod A stable world needs gender equality. If both genders unite, they can build a better world.
Lazha yadgar abdulla
Lazha yadgar abdulla My painting is about a girl who wants to reach for the sky and have freedom, without anyone trying to control her, [...]
Lana Fares Jaff
Lana Fares Jaff I create art to address the problems and challenges women encounter from birth to growing up, to marriage. I’m creating artwork to [...]
Jiyan
Jiyan My artwork represents a young woman raising her fist while around her, some birds are flying. There are also a lot of stains that [...]
Ismail Farhad Karem
Ismail Farhad Karem The digital art I made, The Orange Circles, is expressing the power of women in my society and how they can leave [...]
Hussain Mustafa Safi
Hussain Mustafa Safi This artwork shows how women are powerful and despite all the norms, challenges, life, marriage, etc. they always appear as powerful, respectful, [...]
Hosna Mahmud
Hosna Mahmud I used light blue as a symbol of the purity and beauty of women. I have used brown as the color of the [...]
Dunya Muhammad Salih
Dunya Muhammad Salih The artwork, 70 Empowering Women, is research-based and it is about appreciating the women that have changed history and that still works [...]
Avin Nyaz Salahaddin
Avin Nyaz Salahaddin My idea was this: women are like trees, they change every season, growing stronger and more powerful than before. Here’s to strong [...]
Alla Khadang Mohammed
Alla Khadang Mohammed I wanted to show how powerful women can be if they decides to raise their voice against injustice, sexual assault (waves that [...]
Ala Abduljabar Mohammad
Ala Abduljabar Mohammad The painting, Survivors, shows four faces of a woman at once. The women’s main face along with three others that represent three [...]
Noralhuda Abduljalil Abduljabbar
Noralhuda Abduljalil Abduljabbar The title of the painting, Hope in Hands, and the materials used are acrylic and oil paints on a 50x70 canvas. This [...]
Jahida J Mustafa
Jahida J Mustafa The painting, Freedom and Equality, is the image of both genders uniting to achieve equality of genders, without any discrimination, and to [...]