Exhibition of the 4th Edition of the International Contest for Minority Artists

Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00.

First launched in 2022, the International Contest for Minority Artists is organized by UN Human Rights (OHCHR), the NGOs Freemuse and Minority Rights Group (MRG), and the City of Geneva, with the support of the Centre des arts of Ecolint and the Loterie Romande. The Contest for Minority Artists serves as a platform for minority artists human rights defenders, celebrating their role in building bridges of understanding, dialogue and empathy locally and worldwide through creative and artistic means. 

This year, the fourth edition of the International Contest for Minority Artists turns its gaze toward the theme “Belonging, Place and Loss”. The 2025 theme calls for artistic journeys through the intersections of identity, land, place, and community, in a world shaken by climate crisis, systemic discrimination, and cultural erosion. It opens a space for minority voices that speak of attachment and estrangement, of home as both shelter and absence, of the fragile yet enduring bonds that tie us to one another and to the places we call our own.

At the Award Ceremony, on 25 November, the jury of the 2025 edition of the Contest honored and celebrated eight remarkable laureate artists from across the globe whose creative visions are as diverse as their origins. Each of the 2025 laureates of the Contest stands out for their unwavering artistic commitment and for the way they transform both intimate and collective experiences into resonant works of art. Through their creative practice, they act as human rights defenders, illuminating the layered realities of national, linguistic, religious, and ethnic minorities, and bearing witness not only to injustice and loss, but also to renewal, care, resilience, and strength.

Cover credits: Abubakar Moaz, Before They Fade, 2024.