Guidelines
Hear me. See me. Walk with me!
A call to be creative and support displaced people among us!
An image is worth a thousand words. The Art Contest “Hear me. See me. Walk with me.” invites young people across Europe to use their creativity to learn about, understand, and support those forced to flee their countries. This contest is your opportunity to use your artistic talents for a meaningful cause.
More than 117.3 million people have been displaced from their homes due to climate disasters, conflict, and persecution. Children, young people, and families can use their creativity to share the powerful message that everyone deserves to be treated with practical kindness, justice, compassion, and love — to live as God intended.
Theme:
Hearts and Hands: Caring for Refugees
Types of artistic expression that can be submitted
Two-dimensional art – including drawing, painting, digital art, and collage (click for definition and a demo video).
Who can apply?
The contest is open to all children, young people (aged 5 to 25), and families.
All artwork must be the sole and original work of the participants. Parents or guardians may provide minimal assistance to younger children.
Age groups
To ensure the contest is accessible and enjoyable for all participants, it will be divided into five age groups:
5 – 9 years
10 – 14 years
15 – 18 years
19 – 25 years
Families
Some ideas for artwork
Ages 5–9
Focus: Simple and concrete expressions of welcome, friendship, and basic kindness.
Examples: A drawing of sharing a toy with a new friend; a painting of playing together with refugee children.
Ages 10–14
Focus: A deeper understanding of cultural diversity, empathy, and the challenges faced by refugees.
Examples: A drawing of befriending a refugee at school; a collage of various cultural symbols coming together.
Ages 15–25
Focus: Complex themes such as integration, social responsibility, and the impact of global events on refugees.
Examples: A digital artwork depicting the journey of a refugee family; an artwork representing unity and support across different communities
How to apply?
Applicants must submit a high-quality JPEG photograph of their artwork (with no background) between 1 February and 31 March 2025. Each submission must include a title for the artwork and specify its type of artistic expression.
Who will win?
The Art Committee will evaluate the artworks and select the most outstanding pieces from each age group. The jurors will assess the artworks based on creativity, relevance to the theme, artistic technique, and how effectively they convey the message of kindness, hope, and solidarity.
Shortly after the selection of the Committee members on 4 April, ADRA will issue an invitation on social media for the public to vote for their favourite artwork in each age category, from 6 April to 30 April. Winners will be notified by email once voting has concluded and will be announced during a special online awards ceremony, broadcasted on World Refugee Day and World Refugee Sabbath, 21 June 2025.
Winners will receive certificates of recognition and special awards for their outstanding displays of compassion and creativity. They will also have the option to donate the value of their prize, allowing ADRA to provide school supplies for refugee children.
Some artworks may be used to further promote education for all children, shared on social media, and used as educational material to raise awareness of migration issues as broadly as possible.
More info:
Ausenda Martins: [email protected]
Award Ceremony 2024
MORE ABOUT the THEME
Young artists are kindly invited to prepare artworks that will “touch” the theme explained below. Each participant is welcome to explore thematic further with parents, teachers, friends, and the faith community.
All around us live people who were forced to flee climate disasters, persecution, violence, hardship, war, etc.
In addition to personal engagement and interaction with refugees, we highly recommend online teaching resources about refugees, migrants and internally displaced people prepared by ADRA International (material is here). The UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) developed the material for age groups (6 – 9, 9 – 12, 12 -15, 15 – 18 years). Link to resource page here.
Video reports and materials from previous years are available here.
WHO are refugees?
Refugees are people who have fled climate disasters, war, violence, conflict or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country. They often have had to flee with little more than the clothes on their back, leaving behind homes, possessions, jobs and loved ones.
These journeys, which all start with the hope for a better future, can also be full of danger and fear. Some people risk falling prey to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Some are detained by the authorities as soon as they arrive in a new country. Once they’re settling in and start building a new life, many face daily racism, xenophobia and discrimination. Some people end up feeling alone and isolated because they have lost the support networks that most of us take for granted – our communities, colleagues, relatives and friends.
Theme
Hearts and Hands: Caring for Refugees
Can you think of a time when you were in a difficult situation and someone was kind to you? How did it make you feel? Even if they couldn’t fix everything for you, their kindness made you feel loved and special and happy and peaceful. Somebody cared about you. And that was amazing!
Imagine you are a refugee. You have to leave your home and your country. You have to walk away from friends, and maybe even family. All you can take with you is what you can carry in a few carrier bags or a backpack. What would you take with you? Clothes, school books, toys, food, a blanket, some photographs? What would you leave behind? Probably a lot of things that you would never see again.
Then you and your family make a very long and difficult journey. Every day, you wake up in a different place. You have to find water to drink. You don’t know what you will eat, or where you will sleep that night. And then someone is kind to you. An elderly man gives your family a ride for a few miles. Or a restaurant owner invites you into her café and gives you all a free dinner and a wonderful chocolatey dessert! Perhaps someone notices that your shoes are wearing out and they give you a new pair. Or they invite you to sleep in a real bed in their own home! Wow! The world feels much better when people are kind! You can rest for a little bit, and smile, and enjoy the food. And most of all you know that someone has seen your suffering and they want you to feel loved.
Kindness is a super-special experience. Whenever we are kind, the love ripples out from our heart and touches other people. It makes them feel loved and special. They will probably never forget what you did, even if you just smiled, or gave them a glass of water, a bar of chocolate, some fuzzy socks, or a fun toy. The great thing is we can all be kind. Whenever we do something that makes another person feel better, or makes their life more comfortable and safe, it blesses them and it makes you feel good too!
So, what does kindness look like for you? What would it look like for a refugee child, or their family? How would it make them feel inside? Imagine! Be creative! And make something that illustrates kindness when life is challenging, or something that inspires others to be kind.
