The British Council is calling on amateur and professional photographers in the Middle East to capture what the region’s cultural heritage means to them - its past, present and future – by submitting entries to its ‘My Father’s House’ online photography competition before 31 March 2010.
Winning entries will be displayed later this year online and at an exhibition at the British Council in London, UK. This exhibition will provide a collective representation of how people living in the Middle East today view their cultural heritage, as a way to help build awareness and understanding about the region in the UK. Winners will also receive top of the range digital cameras provided by Olympus UK as prizes.
This free online photography competition www.britishcouncil.org/myfathershouse forms part of the British Council’s major regional arts project: ‘My Father’s House: the architecture of cultural heritage’. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 13 years who is resident in the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Yemen. Entrants can submit up to three photographs which express their response, one for each of the following three themes:
• Past - A Place in Time
• Present - A sense of home
• Future - Nostalgia for the Future.
‘My Father’s House: the architecture of cultural heritage’ uses architecture to stimulate debate about the role and value of cultural heritage in defining cultural identity in a rapidly changing region. It encourages us all to take a fresh look at our surroundings and address the question: How do we see where we live? At its centre is a touring lens-based exhibition by 8 artists from the Middle East and the UK.
Entries to the online photography competition will be split into two age categories: 13-24 years and 25 years and above. The judges will look for photographs that make a positive impact on them by the way they portray the emotion of their subject. Entries should be submitted to the competition website www.britishcouncil.org/myfathershouse before the closing date of 18:00 GMT, Wednesday 31 March 2010.
Hannah Henderson, British Council Regional Projects Manager Creativity said:
“People and the way they interact with their environment shape a culture. All of us who live in the region therefore play a role in the evolving cultural heritage of the Middle East.
‘Our online photography competition is a fantastic opportunity for everyone in the region – amateur and professional photographers alike – to reflect on what the world immediately around us actually means to us and to then share that view with a much wider audience. It is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and understanding about the breadth and diversity of the rich cultural heritage of this very dynamic part of the world and help to dispel myths about the Middle East in the UK.
‘I look forward to seeing all the entries, discovering new photographic talent and building up a portfolio of images that collectively tell the world what the cultural heritage of the Middle East today means to the people living in it today.’
