The association Uaar (Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics) promotes the first edition of the UAART Contest, which is open to all visual arts and aimed at the construction of a secular viewpoint for what concerns the representation of grief and death.
The contest is open to all artists, regardless of nationality and devoid of age-related discriminations. The deadline to participate is July 5th 2024, and it is possible to enroll online, free of charge, at uaar.it/premio-uaart-iscrizione. The rule book is available at uaar.it/premio-uaart.
With this initiative, the Uaar aims to reiterate the need to have decent and dignified farewell halls (public or private facilities where it is possible to celebrate non-religious funeral rites) that are adequately distributed across the national territory. Thus, allowing individuals to exercise their right to a secular funeral within a suitable environment.
The aforestated contest consists in a selection of a group of works to be regarded as finalists, amongst which the winner will be chosen. The winner will receive a purchase award amounting to 3,000 Euros. The chosen work, acquired by the Uaar, will be given to a public farewell hall, where it will remain in permanent exhibition.
It is possible to send a single work of art, and it is not required that the work of art be crafted especially for this occasion, nor is it required that such a contest be the first time the work of art sees the light of day. As long as the work of art is relevant to the theme of the contest, it can be presented. The selection of the finalists — in terms of groups of works — will be selected by an expert jury, comprised of experts within the contemporary art realm. The proclamation of the finalists will be posted on the Uaar website (uaar.it), as well as on all of the Uaar social media platforms. For what concerns the awards ceremony, it will take place during the month of November 2024.
«After having been invited to host a class regarding the representation of death and grief within contemporary art — in light of a training course for celebrant secular-humanists which has been hosted by the Uaar for years now — we realized that it is quite challenging to find examples related to such thematic elements. Such a shortcoming is definitely worthy of reflection, as art history indeed offers numerous representations of such themes, but usually due to religious commissions. Therefore, oftentimes, narrative-controlling in favor of those possessing the adequate symbolic code. Our hope, therefore, is that people will take up our challenge, thus contributing to a new set of works of art, possessing a new symbolic code», stated Enrica Berselli, Events Coordinator for the Uaar.
«We firmly believe that art has the potential to increase the level of dignity within public facilities that are used as farewell halls. Moreover, given that art is profoundly human — as well as being an object of contemplation — it has the ability to accompany the reflection on finitude. In doing so, art would essentially nurture the non-religious imagery surrounding death, thus stimulating political awareness regarding the need for the presence of farewell halls within Italy, as requested to a society whose aim is that of promoting liberty of and from religion», stated Marta Pacini, Head of the Unique Ceremonies project at Uaar (www.cerimonieuniche.it).
Death and grief for a loved one are the only experiences that unite all people in the age of consciousness, given that we have no memory of when we were born. With the Uaar Contest, the Uaar invites people from the art worlds to contribute to the creation of a secular imagery related to death and grief, devoid of religious or spiritual imagery.
The Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (Uaar) was birthed in 1987 with the aim of representing the beliefs of atheist or agnostic citizens, as well as to defend the secularism of the State. The Uaar is completely independent of parties.
For more information regarding the contest and the association, please visit the webpage uaar.it.
Registrations on the site uaar.it/premio-uaart-iscrizione by July 5, 2024, 12:00.
For further information
arte@uaar.it
uaar.it/premio-uaart
Press release