International Holocaust Remembrance Day Poster Design Competition- New Approaches to Remembrance

The International Poster Competition is a joint project between Yad Vashem in cooperation with Memorial de la Shoah, France, and the European Shoah Legacy Institute, Czech Republic.

It is funded by the ITF under Grant Programme # 1) Develop strategies for Holocaust Memorial Days in a way that injects substance, real meaning and educational value into these events.

This pilot joint project was modeled upon a national competition in Israel implemented annually by Yad Vashem for Yom HaShoa, wherein students of Graphic Design undergo Holocaust Education Day Seminars prior to designing a poster to commemorate Yom HaShoa, with the winning poster displayed across the country. For the International Compeition, led by Yad Vashem, students of design in France, the Czech Republic and Israel attended Day Seminars, and proceeded to design posters on a theme of "Keeping the Memory Alive" (with an optional sub-theme of "Children in the Holocaust"), with cash prizes to be awarded for the top 3 designs and the best 15 to be exhibited prominently to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th 2012 at various locations around the world, including most notably the United Nations in New York.

The Judging Session took place on May 19th 2011 at the offices of the ITF in Berlin. A panel of judges, comprising experts in both design and in Holocaust Education from all three participating countries and beyond, selected the 16 best posters out of over 300 submitted altogether. A tie in the voting resulted in 16 posters being chosen rather than 15.  The selected designs are able to be viewed in the gallery. The 16 winning designers are also invited to participate in a special seminar examining the Holocaust and the Arts to be held at the International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem in November 2011 as part of the project.

The posters will be printed and distributed to all ITF Delegations. Crucially, they will be made available as an educational resource with accompanying Study Guide, with much potential for raising awareness of International Holocaust Remembrance Day across all ITF states.

As well as the exhibit slated to be mounted at the UN, all three partner countries have undertaken to arrange for high-profile exhibitions in governmental headquarters and suchlike in their respective states. It is hoped that other ITF Member, Observer and Liaison States will also initiate similar exhibitions in their own countries. In this way, it is hoped that this project can be as far reaching as possible. Possibilities of replication and expansion of the project for future years are currently under discussion.

For more information, please contact Project Manager Jane Jacobs-­Kimmelman, Director of International Relations at the International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem jane.jacobs [at] yadvashem.org.il

Results:

1st Prize: Veronika Nováková Czech Republic

2nd Prize: Boris Grzeszcak France

3rd Prize: Martina Cejpová Czech Republic

To Be Exhibited:

Aude Benhaim, France

Ellina Berlioz, France

Iva Boháčová, Czech Republic

Yael Boverman, Israel

Rotem Cohen, Israel

Peter Chmela, Czech Republic

Liz Elsby, Israel

Isabel Hahn, Czech Republic

Ondřej Jiráska, Czech Republic

Petr Nehera, Czech Republic

Martin Pasquier, France

Malki Wiegner, Israel

Ohad Zlotnick, Israel

ITF International Poster Competition 2011 Judges:

Jan Arnesen, Chief, Exhibits Unit, United Nations; Jean-Marc Bretegnier, Graphic

Designer and Teacher, France; Debbie Hartmann, International School for Holocaust

Studies- Yad Vashem, Israel; Helga Weiss-Hošková, Artist and Holocaust survivor,

Czech Republic; Kimberly Mann, Manager, The Holocaust and the United Nations

Outreach Programme; Kathrin Meyer, Executive Secretary, ITF; Sophie Nagiscarde,

Head of the Shoah Memorial's Cultural Activities, France; David Tartakover, Graphic

Artist and Israel Prize Laureate, Israel; Ondřej Zámiš, Graphic Artist, Czech Republic.