Artists bridge the divide and draw attention to the plight of endangered species.
Israel and Iran may be arch enemies politically, but a recent design competition demonstrates that their artists are more alike than different. Although we have featured many Israeli designs in the past, such as these outrageous shoes and this lovely ceramic e-cooler designed by the Boaz couple, we have had fewer opportunities to show off the good work coming out of Iran.
But that does not mean that none exists. One of the world’s most foremost night sky photographers is an Iranian whose art both delights and unites its viewers. And yesterday designboom announced that an Iranian student took second place in an international competition designed to draw attention to the plight of endangered species. An Israeli student won with a beautiful design called “Life Tracks.”
Tokyo Designers Week in Japan and designboom’s joint call for entries was open to students from every country. Anna Braverman from Israel won first place out of 2,078 participants from 86 different countries. Called Life Tracks, her entry depicts the footprint of various species of plant and animal and human gradually diminishing to one shoe print. She manages to narrow down a complex history spanning thousands of years to one simple, hard-hitting truth.
Khasshayar Teymoori’s entry “Life is my Right” is similarly moving. By depicting a lion whose mane is comprised of guns, the Iranian student draws attention to just one of the ways in which human beings have thoughtlessly contributed to the extinction of our wild animals.
In its call for entries, the competition organizers noted that by next year, another 50,000 species on our planet will go extinct. The graphic design competition thus should “focus on recovering and preserving our endangered species.”
“Our goal is to raise awareness and stimulate action and funding for broader conservation efforts to reverse the alarming trend of human-caused extinctions that threaten the ecosystems wae all share,” according to the organizers.
The jury was composed of: Katsumi Asaba, Kashiwa Sato, Kenji Kawasaki, Shobun Nakashima, and Noriaki Hayashi, and the first prize winner will receive ¥ 200,000 JPY, whereas second and third place winners will each receive ¥ 100,000JPY.
:: designboom
More design competition news from the Middle East:
Participate in Greenpeace and jovoto’s Design Competition
When Abu Dhabi Art Meets Sand, Sun, and Sky
Architectural Design To Memorialize Assault On Free Speech
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
