A collective exhibition of cartoons on the theme “For Diversity and Against Discrimination” (FDAD) is currently on display at The Atrium, St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta. Twenty-two original works submitted by promising young and established Maltese cartoonists participated in a competition held as part of the campaign “For Diversity Against Discrimination”, initiated by the European Commission Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Joanna Drake, Head of EC Representation Office in Malta, in the presence of Anthony J. Tabone, National Correspondent for the FDAD campaign, Carmen Sammut, Chairperson of the FDAD Cartoons Competition Selection Panel, members of the National Working Groups, participants and guests.
Showcasing in a positive manner the aspect of race, sexual orientation, age, religion, and disability, the drawings are meant to create awareness on the diversity issue. A selection panel chaired by Dr Carmen Sammut and included publisher Michael Schiavone and Anthony J. Tabone, assessed the submissions and selected two winners.
Veteran artist Maurice Tanti Burlo’ was awarded first prize with “Stairway to heaven”, while the second prize was awarded to Marisa Attard for her entry “Peas in a Pod”. A special mention went to three promising participants whose work was positively assessed. These were Greta Borg-Carbott (Success), Marie Claire Farrugia (Hanging from the stars) and Louiselle Sciberras (Different but together)
Commenting on the assessment report, Dr Sammut remarked that while most contributions were of a high standard, some entries did not distinguish between a cartoon and a painting. She said: “It is important to note that the campaign reaped an excellent result. Within the Maltese journalistic context, all established cartoonists are male and yet, this competition had a very high female representation, where five out of nine participants were women. They all presented valid work and this panel notes an encouraging trend that can lead to a greater role for women as cartoon artists in the Maltese islands.”
“For Diversity. Against Discrimination” is running a pan-European information campaign run by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Directorate General of the European Commission. Its aim is to combat discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability and sexual orientation. The campaign “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” is designed to inform people about their rights under EU anti-discrimination legislation as well as promoting the positive benefits of diversity in the workplace.
During the official opening of the exhibition, Dr Drake presented the certificates to the participants and the cash prizes to the two winners. The other participants included Paul Caruana, Mario Casha, Andy Grech and Roberta Zahra.
The exhibition will remain open till Wednesday 19 November at The Atrium, St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta.