The Photo Contest organized by the Cities Network for Integration in cooperation with the Refugee Week 2023 festival, has ended featuring three winners.
Τhe organisers wish to congratulate all contest participants, who managed to capture instances of ‘compassion in action’, drawing inspiration from the theme of the Refugee Week 2023 Festival. With their photos, they highlight the importance of understanding our fellow human beings regardless of their age, gender, nationality, as well as our big home, nature, through an approach of active social participation and contribution.
The Photo Contest was supported by the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as part of their support to the Cities Network for Integration.
And the winners are…
1st prize: Marketaki Chrysa for the photo with the title ‘Trip 3814’, Chania-Crete
One of the largest inflows of immigrants in our country took place in November 2022 in our region. The help and solidarity was an example to follow! Many congratulations to all! It was an experience of a lifetime.
Marketaki Chrysa
2nd prize: Andritsopoulou Nancy for the photo with the title ‘Quenched’, Agios Dimitrios-Attiki
A group of small children playing in a park in Agios Dimitrios,
decides to cool the doggies on a particularly hot day, as he doesn’t
there is some source or tap for them to drink water. Children teach us
with an act of selfless love and kindness.Andritsopoulou Nancy
3rd prize: Konstantinou Konstantina – Maria for the photo with the title ‘The old man who feeds the pigeons in Kerameikos’, Athens
This man goes every Friday and feeds the pigeons with as much bread as he has each day and is given to him by passers-by, due to the fact that he lives without a roof, in the area of Kerameikos, at the beginning of Ermou to Theseio. I was moved by his movement, then, and for that reason I took a picture of him. His gesture says a lot about how much we ourselves lose every day if we don’t do even one act of compassion while we dispose of everything in material goods.
I got him a bottle of water and another loaf of bread for him and somehow directed him as best I could to go to some open hospitality structure nearby. I hope he made it and went because I haven’t seen him there on Fridays before.
Konstantinou Konstantina – Maria
The selection committee consisted of Fridoon Joinda, filmmaker and refugee rights advocate, Kunoor Ojha, student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Todd Rigos, Photographer and Art Curator, Natalia Galgou, Coordinator of Compass Films and as a representative of the Coordination team of the Cities Network for Integration, Marina Tomara, Communications Expert.
The committee evaluated the photos based on the following 3 criteria: 1. Relevance to this year’s Refugee Week Festival theme “Compassion in action”, 2. Frame composition, 3. Storytelling
The winners will receive 3 polaroid cameras accompanied with the respective films.
Specifially:
1st prize: Polaroid Instant Camera Now + Gen 2 Black and Polaroid Color i–Type Instant Film
2nd & 3rd prize: Polaroid Now Yellow Instant Camera & Polaroid Color Film For I-type Film Pack 6010
The winners will be informed soon about how to receive their prizes.
We would like to thank for their participation: Archontaki Niki ‘Tangling the nets’ (Chania), Maria Ketsetsidis ‘Drop in the heat’ (Agios Dimitrios), George Prentzas ‘Reclining Position’ (Athens), Sifonios Nikitas ‘Chinatown’ ( Athens), Iman Mohammed ‘Human rights like a fist’ (Heraklion, Crete), Isabella dela Siepre ‘Portrait of Zaira’ (El Salvador).
A few words about Refugee Week Festival
Refugee Week Greece Festival took place for the second consecutive year in Greece from June 19 to 25 2023 on World Refugee Day. Refugee Week Greece is a community led, all welcome, fully accessible festival. We strongly believe in the importance and values of equality and diversity and we are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for event organisers, organisations and the public attending our events. Our aim is to understand and celebrate our diverse community and recognise the value of each individual’s contribution. The initiative is a cultural festival, part of a dynamic global movement, and promotes the contribution, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking refuge.
The Festival was held with the kind support of the City of Athens and the participation of the Athens Coordination Center for Migrant and Refugee issues (ACCMR), the Migrant Integration Center (KEM) and integration projects of the Municipality, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Greece and the Network for Children’s Rights.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/refugeeweekgreece/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/refugeeweekgreece
A few words about the Cities Network for Integration (CNI)
The Cities Network for Integration (CNI) is an inter-municipal network of 18 Greek municipalities working together to organize and implement coordinated activities and interventions at local and national level, aimed at promoting social integration of migrants and refugees and strengthening social cohesion. The CNI launched its operation in January 2018, based on a memorandum of understanding between the municipalities of Athens and Thessaloniki, that paved the way for a common framework for cooperation. Since April 2020, the Cities Network for Integration (CNI) is supported by IOM Greece and UNHCR Greece on the basis of a trilateral cooperation with the City of Athens. Member-Municipalities: Agios Dimitrios, Athens, Delta, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kalamaria, Karditsa, Katerini, Larissa, Livadia, Neapoli-Sykeon, Nea Filadelphia – Nea Chalkidona, Piraeus, Tilos, Trikala, Tripoli, Chania.
