The United Nations Information Centre Manila and the Embassy of Israel in Manila have launched the Butterfly Art Contest in time for the 2018 observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust.
Why a butterfly art contest?
In 1996, the Holocaust Museum Houston launched The Butterfly Project to commemorate the 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust. The Butterfly Project drew its inspiration from the poem, “The Butterfly,” which was written by Pavel Friedmann. The poem expressed the impact of the conditions in the camp on the prisoners. In 1944, Pavel was deported to Auschwitz Birkenau*, where he was murdered by the Nazis. After the Holocaust, his poem was discovered. Here is Pavel’s poem:
THE BUTTERFLY
The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone….
Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ‘way up high
It went away I’m sure because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.
For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live here,
in the ghetto.
PAVEL FRIEDMANN, 4 June 1942
Under the Butterfly Project, students around the world were invited to express their empathy and hope through the creation of a butterfly. The Holocaust Museum collected butterflies of every size and shape. The display of butterflies connects a new generation of young people to the memory of the children who did not survive the Holocaust.
The Butterfly Project aims to teach social responsibility, respect for diversity and the importance of human rights.
In the words of one of the students who participated in the project: “I want to make a difference in the world, one butterfly at a time.”
One butterfly even arrived from space. American Astronaut Rex J. Walheim participated in The Butterfly Project in July 2011 while aboard the final mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
*Auschwitz Birkenau is included on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list with its official title “Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp, (1940-1945)”
CONTEST RULES AND GUIDELINES
Deadline for submission of entries: 15 March 2018
Who are eligible to join: Filipinos, 13-17 years old, BOTH in-school and out-of-school
Art specifications:
- Size: 24 x 36
- Medium: paint or watercolor
- Color: color or black and white
Guidelines for Submission of Entries:
- Only one (1) entry per contestant will be accepted.
- All entries must be submitted by email to unic.manila@unic.org by no later than 11:55PM, 15 March 2018.
- You may scan your art in high-resolution, or take a high-resolution photo of it.
- Send the art file to the email address: manila@unic.org with the subject line: Butterfly Art Contest Entry_(Your Full Name);
- Attach a scan or a photo of your birth certificate to indicate your year of birth.
Contest Prizes
The top three winning artists will receive a trophy and art kits, courtesy of the Embassy of Israel in Manila.
For any questions, feel free to send an email to:
Teresa L. Debuque
National Information Officer
UNIC Manila
debuque@un.org