HART Prize for Human Rights 2018| Snatched

With the most number of entries we’ve ever received, the competition was even harder with such exceptional submissions that demonstrated inspiring passion for Human Rights advocacy.

Rachel Rotimi, 19, won joint 1st place in our HART Prize for Human Rights Senior Creative Category 2018 with her art titled:

Snatched 

In this piece I hoped to depict the tragic kidnapping of the 276 Chibok girls in Borno State, Nigeria in April 2014 by the terrorist group- Boko Haram. Through mixed media, I hoped to raise awareness of the issue that initially received widespread news and attention, but later diminished in following. The focal point of the image depicts the action at hand- the girls being snatched. Or more importantly, the freedom, innocence and education of the girls that was subsequently ‘snatched’ in the process. I attempted to incorporate some of the girls that were taken, all of which cannot specify if they have been rescued or not give that it took the government two years to have the first girl released. Lastly and most importantly, especially to the work of HART, an eagle (the national bird of Nigeria) is flying away from the incident carrying the flag in attempt to display how the behaviour of many authority figures during in the beginning of the incident. In sense, this represents how the higher authority turned their back on the girls until worldwide promotion forced them to take real action. I hope this piece will speak to that and much more.