MILAN – Lavazza announces the winner of TOwardTOmorrow, the artistic Instagram competition raising awareness, aligning with NGOs across the world using art as a bridge to urgent change. In the project, Creative Director Charlotte Pyatt also aligned 17 global NGOs all using art as a bridge to urgent action to generate support and awareness for their respective causes, while championing the power of culture. From over 400 entrants, this year’s winner is Prickly Sauce, a UK based artist whose work embodied SDG16, Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.
“The bound hands of justice grab tightly the fingers of the peace symbol binding both as strong institutions.” – explained Rob Thomas (Prickely Sauce) – “The chain pulling out sideways reinforces this strength. It feels like a strong image that visually represents the relationship and the fact that these are ultimately about people and their lives.”
“We are filled with enthusiasm today for the official nomination of the winner of this innovative edition of Toward 2030” –commented Company Board Director Francesca Lavazza – “Toward 2030 is an award-winning cultural project conceived by Lavazza’s Sustainability Department and executed in 2018/9 with the City of Turin. Covid-19 forced us to rethink 2020 plans to consider how we continue our mission in this difficult time, Toward Tomorrow was born! The initiative offered economic support for artists and highlighted the efforts of NGOs across the world, more fundamentally it allowed us to maintain our core mission of using art to communicate awareness of the global goals in ways that were engaging and impactful”- declared Francesca.
The competition was a playful way to address the global issues that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Composed by two sections: over and under 18 and two financial awards (for the over 10.000 € and 1000 € for the under) every stage was constructed to incite positive and meaningful discussion to reflect on how Art engages with the world. This aligns with another active Lavazza campaign The New Humanity.
An International panel of Art and Sustainability ambassadors were appointed to select the winning artist, they include: Francesca Lavazza (Lavazza Group), Evan Pricco (Juxtapoz Magazine), Martha Cooper (photographer), Marina Ponti (UN SDG Action Campaign) and Wisam Salsaa (the Walled off Hotel) together with 17 Ngos selecting the final 17 artists (1 winner per SDG category) from all over the world using art and culture as a universal language to raise awareness on CSR and sustainability topics.
“The mission was to encourage artists to consider their work through the filter of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We couldn’t realise our efforts for 2020 in public space, and so we adapted with an online project to unite artistic and sustainability communities in a positive and meaningful way during Covid.” – remarked Charlotte Pyatt, Creative Director of the TOwardTOmorrow campaign – “Of the many aspects I am proud of for TOwardTOmorrow, I am inspired and humbled by the trust, energy and awe-inspiring work of the incredible 17 organisations we were able to align with. This was one of the most challenging aspects of this project, but certainly one of the most rewarding in demonstrating creatively and practically how art can mobilise people toward action. The level of engagement and support we have received from artists has been overwhelming, a true celebration of the transformative power of culture and its ability to affect meaningful change in the world.”
The Jury of TOwardTOmorrow
- Francesca Lavazza is a member of the the board for the Lavazza Group. With a passion for promoting artistic and cultural initiatives, Francesca works to align her artistic sensibility with the company’s communication strategies. Today Lavazza is partner to some of the world’s leading museums including the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Russia), the Guggenheim Museum in New York (USA), the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice) and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (Australia).
- Evan Pricco is an Author, Curator and current Editor in Chief of Juxtapoz Magazine, and our communications support for the Toward 2030 project. Now in their 26th year, Juxtapoz is the world’s leading printed art magazines covering underground and prevailing art cultures. As well the maintaining the creative direction of the publication, Evan mediates conferences, produces off site projects and installations and coordinates curatorial projects globally.
- Martha Cooper is a documentary photographer who has specialized in shooting urban vernacular art and architecture for forty years. From a staff photographer with the New York Post, to her work with National Geographic, Martha has reached iconic status through her documenting of the unfolding graffiti scene and various subcultures it has encouraged throughout the world.
- Marina Ponti is the Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign, a special initiative of the Secretary-General to inspire, mobilize and connect people to take action to achieve the SDGs. Marina has led global campaigns and movements on debt, trade, human rights and development assistance, she is at the vanguard of innovative campaign initiatives fostering partnerships with organizations, governments, creatives, the private sector and the United Nations.
- Wisam Salsaa is the manager of The Walled off Hotel, an independent leisure facility set up and financed by artist Banksy, situated in Bethlehem. A central feature of the #towardtomorrow narrative, is a focus on the transformative power of culture. The Walled off Hotel offers an interesting perspective on this discussion through Wisam, as he actively diverts the overwhelming global support and interest of his premises towards cultivating an interest and industry for emerging artists in Palestine. Despite the large and unique collection of original Banksy works held by the hotel, the on-site gallery is reserved exclusively for local artists to showcase their work
