"There was no great doubt in choosing the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, which, as we well know, is also affecting Portuguese-speaking countries. We think that the theme can document through images the fight against the disease in the communities of the countries Portuguese-speaking and in Macau, as well as the socio-cultural transformations that it originated, the weaknesses, the social and behavioral inequalities ", explained Marta Pereira, who leads Somos! - Portuguese Language Communication Association (Somos - ACLP).
The pandemic is "affecting populations worldwide, with countries and regions, including Portuguese-speaking countries, being forced to continually adjust response and prevention measures, which involve the confinement of people and quarantines, which have brought enormous challenges to life in society ", stressed the association to justify the contest entitled" Lusophone soul in times of covid-19 ".
The photographs "must be able to mirror the fight against the disease within the Portuguese-speaking world, the difficulties faced, the losses, the profound changes brought about by Covid-19, particularly in cultural terms, but they can also exalt acts of altruism, courage, resistance, faith, and compassion in these difficult times ", according to Somos !.
The contest is aimed at "all citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and regions or residents of Macau" and "framed with the selected theme, taken in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Goa, Damão and Diu ".
The three winning images will be awarded prizes of ten thousand patacas (1030 euros), five thousand patacas (515 euros) and 3500 patacas (360 euros).
These images will also be part of an exhibition to be organized in March, in Macau.
The exhibition will also include "other photographs selected by the jury for their relevance or value for the theme of the photo contest and for the purpose of Somos - ACLP, to project the cultural dimension of Portuguese speaking, as well as the role of Macau as a platform that unites the China and Portuguese-speaking countries / regions ", according to the association.
The exhibition will take place at the Casa Garden Exhibition Gallery from March 26 to April 10, in Macau, and is once again curated by António Mil-Homens.
Registration for the photo contest is free and can be done using the form found on the Somos website! (www.somosportugues.com) between 1 and 28 February.
