To commemorate the historic events of 1989, the EBRD, Raiffeisen Polbank and Gazeta Wyborcza are launching today a photo competition under the title “25 Years of Freedom” (25 lat wolności) in Poland. The committee selecting the winners will be chaired by the novelist Andrey Kurkov.
Participants are invited to submit no more than one photo and can chose among the following themes: Economic change, cultural change, social/personal change. The competition is open for amateurs only and there is no age limit for participants.
Entries can be submitted on the website http://wolnosc25.pl which has been designed specifically for the competition and which is now live and includes further details and information.
Winners will be awarded cameras sponsored by Raiffeisen Polbank as well as the chance to participate in photo workshops organised by Gazeta Wyborcza.
The winning entries will be chosen by an international jury. Its head, Andrey Kurkov, said: “25 years ago our world changed for good. Through this competition we want to offer participants an opportunity to express their impressions and provide a glimpse of the monumental developments we have all witnessed.”
Lawrence Sherwin, EBRD Director of Internal Communications, added: “We are pleased to organise this contest together with our partners and expect to gain many fascinating insights through the submissions. We look forward to receiving a variety of entries – entries which will no doubt be as fascinating and rich as is Poland and its society and recent history.”
Joanna Cegłowska, Head of Corporate Communications at Raiffeisen Polbank: “Our Bank is proud to be a partner in this competition. Joining this initiative evolved naturally from our involvement in the transition of the Polish economy since its very beginning. Raiffeisen has supported Polish business for the last 23 years. Needless to say, we take great interest in the results of the competition. We look forward to finding out how young Poles perceive the transition, and how they reflect this undeniably beneficial process in their entries."
The contest will be concluded with an award ceremony and discussion, chaired by former Financial Times foreign editor Quentin Peel, at the 2014 EBRD Annual Meeting in May in Warsaw. The winning entries will also be displayed on the competition website http://wolnosc25.pl.