During her speech today (12/18) at the award ceremony for the “2022 PAINT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” poster competition, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairperson Chen Chu noted that this was the first time that the competition had been held and it immediately attracted more than 700 entries, providing ample proof on the creativity and enthusiasm for human rights among the younger generation of Taiwanese. She also encouraged more people to care about human rights, learn about human rights, think about human rights, and pass on the message so it can become a part of our everyday life.
Chen Chu has been visiting France and Germany for the last two weeks where she had been invited to attend Human Rights Day events in Paris and Berlin. She had just flown back to Taiwan last night and immediately attended the award ceremony today. She said that during her tour of the Stasi Records Archive in Germany filled her with emotion because Taiwan went through the same struggle for freedom and democracy. Democracy and human rights don’t just drop out of the sky. They must be fought by generation after generation.
Chairperson Chen Chu added that seeing so many young people passionate about human rights today is a testament to the nation’s continued progress on human rights. The human rights poster competition looked at more than just the artwork. More importantly, it looked at how human rights topics were expressed through art. The results from this competition do not represent the finish line. She hoped that the award-winning human rights posters can continue to spread the word on human rights and make it a part of everyday life.
The award ceremony was held at the Chang Yung-Fa Foundation International Convention Center. Guests on the day included NHRC Commissioners Kao Yung-cheng, Lai Cheng-chang, and Su Li-chiung; Vice President Lee Hung-Chun (Control Yuan); Director-General Li Po-yen (National Taiwan Arts Education Center), Director Sappho Loh (Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei), Associate Professor Li Keng-pei (Human Rights program, Soochow University) and others.
The judging panel for the competition was drawn from leading experts and academics in human rights and arts. They included Prof. Mab Huang (Human Rights program, Soochow University), Associate Prof. Kuo Chao-lan (College of Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts), Prof. Li Ken-tsai (Department of Design, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology), and Secretary-General Eeling Chiu (Amnesty International Taiwan).
In addition to the 57 finalists, the award ceremony was open to their friends and relatives so they too can share the joy. The award winners were revealed on the same day with a prize money of NT$200,000 for the gold award winners from the Society Division and Student Division.
Entries for the human rights poster competition were required to be computer-drawn. During the judging process, some entries were found to be from the same family or teachers and students from the same school. Their entries reflected their respective interests in human rights. The Student Division was also open to foreign youths studying in Taiwan so they too can think about the universal values in human rights topics.
The gold award in the Student Division went to Chang Chu-hui whose poster titled “Uncontrollable Sound” focused on Tourette Syndrome. Chang said during his acceptance speech that he chose this topic because one of his classmates has Tourette Syndrome and is frequently misunderstood by other people due to a lack of understanding. He hoped for greater understanding and acceptance.
In the Society division, the gold award went to the poster “Online Haters” on cyberbullying. For his acceptance speech, award winner Yang Chu-chang thanked the NHRC for hosting the event. As the father of two children from the online generation, he reminded them while working on the poster to avoid violating the human rights of other people through thoughtless words or leaking personal information.
The NHRC also hosted the “Human Rights Needs You!” exhibition of finalists to promote public awareness of human rights topics. The opinion survey and giveaway attracted more than a thousand participants from all age groups. Participants viewed the finalists and then discussed their thoughts and feelings on human rights.
The winning entries combined creativity and human rights topics. The list of winners and their works is on display at the 2022 Paint for Human Rights website (http://nhrc-postercompetition.net/). You are welcome to visit the website and browse the posters.