Women’s Empowerment – Live the change, change lives! (#WELCCL)
1st Art & Design Awards

This is a call and campaign for the empowerment of women in Iran. We invite artists, designers, illustrators and anyone who will join us on our journey and create a sign to empower women in Iran with their contributions. In particular, we would like to address the current circumstances of women in Iran, young and old, to collaborate with women and create a sign of solidarity. The discrimination against women in Iran has contributed to the current women’s movement. In addition to the economic and social issues that put women in poverty and thus in unequal economic and social conditions, such as limited access to credit, job discrimination, and low wages. They also face legal barriers that limit their rights and freedoms, such as requiring permission from a male guardian to travel or marry. Efforts to promote gender equality are underway, but progress has been slow. More work is needed to ensure equal opportunities for women in Iran.

The Women’s Empowerment – Live the change, change lives! campaign promotes the women’s movement through art and culture professionals from the international community and supports it through public relations in European countries, but also in countries outside Europe. Thus, the serious situation in Iran is presented as a situation confronting the global women’s community and the women’s movement in Iran is supported with the power of art; through art, this untenable situation can be presented critically. 

A series of exhibitions in Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries with works of art is being planned. The location and exhibition dates will follow. 

The Women’s Empowerment – Live the change, change lives art competition will award a prize to young and established artists in 2023. The competition is open to all artists, designers, illustrators groups from anywhere in the world.
Artists are invited to participate in the campaign with their artworks and send illustrations, designs, motion designs, etc. via email and the artworks to the email address below.

The artists with physical artwork or installation should send us an image of the artwork first via email. After selection, they can send us the artwork to the physical address below in our signature.

Art & Design Awards

Categories

  • THINKUP Editions Awards Winner + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Painting + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Graphic design + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Illustration + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Sculpture/Installation + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Digital Art + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Photography + Certificate
  • THINKUP Editions Awards for Video Art/Motion design/Animation + Certificate

Prize Package

We are pleased to announce the prize package for our Art & Design Award focused on idea creation and storytelling for aspiring artists and designers:

Award winner: Gallery connections, mentorship, business-themed merchandise, and the opportunity to collaborate on the development of an innovative product based on social and women’s empowerment.

Winner’s Certificate: Personalized certificate for outstanding art and design achievements.

Winner’s Badges: Digital badges to be used on websites, social media profiles, and other promotional materials to showcase their Awards.

Award Exhibition: Winners will be exhibited as a special winner’s category on a series of exhibitions in Germany and other European countries. This provides an opportunity for artists and designers to showcase their work to a global audience and network with other designers.

Inclusion in Book: Winning artists will be featured in a book with an ISBN number, distributed internationally to art and design professionals, media, and industry leaders.

Press Release and Publicity: Award winners will receive a customized press release to be distributed to relevant media outlets. The award-winning designs will also be featured on the THINKUP Editions website and other online platforms, providing valuable exposure to a global audience.

We believe this prize package will not only recognize and celebrate the outstanding work of the winners but also provide them with valuable opportunities to advance their careers and make an impact in their field.

Regulation

General Information

  1. Artists can now apply for the 1st edition of the THINKUP Editions Art & Design Awards (at the bottom of this page.)
  2. The exhibition will take place in 2023.
  3. All exhibited work has to be approved by the THINKUP Editions Art & Design committee.
  4. Approved artists are invited to attend the exhibition inauguration with guests but there is no actual requirement for artists to be personally present during the exhibition.
  5. An artist can apply with one or more artworks but each artwork will be judged individually.
  6. Accepted artistic disciplines include works on canvas, works on board, works on paper, applied arts such as collage/mixed media, illustration, design, photography, digital art, video art, sculptures and installations.
  7. Artists can apply from any stage of their careers and from any nation.

Copyright & Social Media Permission

  1. The purpose of THINKUP Editions is to promote art. Therefore, permission for the posting of artworks on social media and for press publication is automatically granted by an artist when an artwork is submitted.
  2. To promote the exhibition, we will choose and publish the images of works on our social media platforms.
  3. The published artworks on our social media during the selection process are not automatically approved for the exhibition.
  4. Artists that are subsequently approved for the 1st edition of our competition also agree for their work to be published in our printed catalogue for the 2023 edition of the THINKUP Editions Art & Design Awards.

Sales

  1. For artworks that are for sale, our professional and experienced sales staff will help set prices and provide information to prospective buyers.
  2. The exhibited artworks do not need to be for sale. For artists who prefer not to sell their works, we will exhibit the artwork as “not for sale”.
  3. THINKUP Editions, curators and Jury members will not retain commission on sales during any exhibition. We will charge a small fee, the sum of the cost of payment processing, logistics (i.e., delivery and/or installation of an artwork to our location), and organisational assistance. 
  4. We will use any monies collected from the sales of artwork to support young artists, especially young female artists in Iran, to expand their education. Specifically, we will donate the proceeds to our non-profit partner organization THINKUP Connectivity e.V.. The donations will be used in cooperation with non-profit creative workshops in Iran to educate young artists and empower women for economic self-determination. In addition, we intend to use a part of the donations, in cooperation with local artists, to field a series of creative workshops for children in impoverished districts in Iran, to give the children a chance to develop their creative skills.

Printed & Online Catalogue

  1. The approved artworks will appear in a hard copy/physical publication.
  2. The artist and their artworks will be published on THINKUP Editions’ websites indefinitely.
  3. A copy of the hard copy catalogues can be purchased by participating artists online through our websites. Artists receive a 20% discount and free shipping.  

Application Fee

  1. There is no application fee for the THINKUP Editions Art & Design Awards. 
  2. For the administrative part of our work, we ask for a donation, which covers: printed posters | printed brochures | admin | graphic designer | professional photographer | printing and framing (for the artists who opt for that).
  3. Once an artwork is accepted for exhibition there are no other fees for artists.

Curatorial Study

  1. All artworks are hung and curated by the competition team.
  2. All artworks on canvas, panel or paper from European countries must be gallery stretched or appropriately framed/mounted and ready to hang with string, hooks or other hanging fixtures.
  3. If you send your artwork from abroad, we will ask you for a small donation for framing the artworks. 

Art Transport

  1. Send us only the approved artworks to the designated address. We will send the designated shipping address in due course.
  2. Send us canvases/works on paper rolled so that they can be stretched/framed locally (charges for stretching and framing apply for this option), to reduce the transport costs. 
  3. All transport and related costs are the responsibility of the artist.

How to Apply

  1. Submissions can be made personally by artists or on behalf of artists.
  2. Supply an Artist Statement.
  3. Supply an image list with the artist’s name, title, media, size and date.
  4. Supply a current Curriculum Vitae or Resume with a photo of the artist.
  5. Applicants will receive an email with instructions (a Submission Certificate) on how to send artwork images and details. 
  6. To apply artwork, simply email us 3 images of your work (3 different works), including Title_ Size_ Medium_ Price and a short bio, no more than 150 words, to the following email adresse:  design@thinkup-editions.com or art@thinkup-editions.com
  7. All submissions should be stored in this form: country_surname _name_title of the work
  8. Include our logo and slogan on the posters or images. You can find the logo and our slogan at the bottom
  9. We have a lot of enquiries from artists from emerging countries to exhibit with us but sometimes shipping the work to Dortmund in time might be a bit difficult. That’s why we’ve come up with an alternative! If you are one of the accepted artists and you find it hard to ship your work to us, you can send us photos of your work and we can print and frame it for you at no additional cost. 

Judgment and eligible media

  • The eligible media are as follows but not limited to: 

paintings | sculptures | photography | Installations | prints | illustrations | digital art | art video | animated & motion design | short story | poems | etc. 

  • All submitted artworks will be judged on relevancy and Judgement Criteria as follows: 
  • Relevance to the theme
  • Originality 
  • Artistic composition
  • Creativity
  • Message conveyed by the work
  • Effectiveness in communicating the intended message

IMPORTANT DATES

Dates 2023
Open call 30th of January 2023
Deadline 30th of June 2024
Jury decision  June 2024
Delivery of physical artworks 10th of July 2023
Exhibition date August to November 2024
Inauguration Will be announced
Open to the Public Will be announced | Free Entry

The exhibition is open to the public with free admission, no booking required

A summary of the further information

  • Submission deadline: June 30th, 2023
  • Submission email address for design/illustration/motion design: design@thinkup-editions.com
  • Submission email address for art/Sculpture/installation/ photography/digital art: art@thinkup-editions.com
  • Jury decision: June 2024
  • Delivery deadline for physical works: 20 days after the jury decision
  • Exhibition date: Will be announced in July 2024

For more information and updates, please visit us at 

https://www.facebook.com/ThinkupEditions.
https://www.instagram.com/thinkup_editions/

Specifications for the poster and illustrations

Please send your poster and the first version of your artwork strictly with the following specifications

    1. File type: JPEG
    2. Size I: The A1 size print measures 59.4 x 84.1cm (23.39 x 33.11 inches)
    3. Size II: The A3 size print measures 29.7 x 42.0cm (11.69 x 16.53 inches)
    4. Resolution: 300 DPIs
    5. Format: CMYK
    6. The submissions should be stored in this form: country_surname _name_title of the work
    7. Include our logo and slogan on the posters. You can find the logo and our slogan at the bottom
    8. In addition, please also send a PDF version of your work / poster.

Submission form

Please be sure to fill out and include the submission form with your artwork. This will ensure that we have all the necessary information to properly review and consider your submission. You can find the submission form under the following links:
Submission form: WE_LCCL_Design & Art competition_submission form_extended deadline
Slogan: Women’s Empowerment – Live the change, change lives!
Logo: WE_LOGO

Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to reviewing your artwork!