Online Poster/Visual Media Competition

Art is a powerful medium that can both bear witness and support personal and social change. This competition provides an avenue for artists, art students, art educators, art therapists, anyone, to use their creativity to express and explore this complex issue. We welcome entries from anywhere in the world.

Rationale for this theme

Living Well is a service that specifically works with men who have experienced childhood sexual abuse or sexual assault, as well as their partners, friends and family (see www.livingwell.org.au). The statement ‘Sexual abuse is something that I experienced… It is not who I am’ was made by a man attending the Living Well Service. It has been chosen as the competition theme for the way that it both acknowledges a man’s experience of sexual abuse and his commitment to living a life defined by him.

Research tell us that 1 in 6 men will experience childhood sexual abuse and that on average they will take 22 years to tell someone about it, 10 years longer than women. When men do come forward, they often talk of there being limited public awareness or supportive accounts that speak to their experience.

In our work with men who have been subjected to sexual abuse, our challenge is to find ways to both acknowledge the profound horror, pain and difficulties produced by sexual assault, whilst simultaneously noticing and supporting a person’s struggles, ways of managing, holding on to hope, engaging with and commitment to living a full life. At Living Well, we see our work as inspiring, hopeful, transformative, life supporting work that acknowledges that people’s lives are multi-storied. We are looking to reward and promote the poster/visual media that navigates this complex terrain and best addresses the identified theme ‘Sexual abuse is something that I experienced…It is not who I am.’

Visual Media can raise awareness and become inspirational.

Submissions to be received by the 3rd of October 2011. Winners to be announced on the 26th of October 2011

A Prize of AU$500 will be awarded by the Competition Panel. A Prize of AU$250 will be awarded to the People’s Choice.

For more information on the Competition and how to enter please go to http://www.livingwell.org.au/Multimedia/OnlinePosterVisualMediaCompetition.aspx

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