Adweek reported D&AD is still accepting award submissions from Russia—but diverting the entry fees collected to make donations to the Art Director’s Club of Ukraine. Gee, how philanthropic. The pseudo-noble gesture seems like a reprimand of sorts to Russian creative people, many of whom probably have no role at all in the country’s military moves against their Ukrainian neighbors.
The D&AD donation drivel drive does inspire questions.
Did D&AD ever consider diverting entry fees from White U.S. creatives to support Black Lives Matter? Or converting cash sent by White male U.S. creatives into contributions to back the “me too.” Movement?
Does D&AD—with its multi-hued pencils—really care about any color besides green?
(Oh, and there’s an explanation for the post title here.)
D&AD Continues to Accept Russian Entries for 2022 Awards—Donates Fees to Ukraine
The creative organization has said cash from Russia will go to the Art Director's Club of Ukraine instead
By Rebecca Stewart
Creative organization D&AD will continue to accept Russian entries to its 2022 awards scheme but says it will donate fees from the country to the Art Director’s Club of Ukraine, following the invasion of the country by its neighbor.
The organization has told Adweek that will not exclude Russian creatives from its annual awards scheme, which highlights world-class work across commercial design, advertising, production and craft. So far, it has received 64 entries from Russia and 14 from Ukraine. All money received by Ukrainian companies for entries into D&AD Awards 2022 will also be refunded.
Prices vary across categories to enter the D&AD Awards, starting at $32 to be considered for the purpose-based Impact Award and rising up to as much as $1,512 to enter into craft categories, such as animation and visual effects.
“As members of Art Directors Club Europe ourselves, we are donating the money we receive from Russian entries to the Ukraine chapter in order to do what we can, within the constraints of our charitable remit, to support the creative community of Ukraine during this time of crisis,” explains a statement from D&AD.
The announcement comes as global governments, businesses and sporting bodies sever ties with Russia amid its military attack on Ukraine.
The Art Directors Club of Ukraine is an outpost of the Art Directors Club Europe; a non-profit which represents more than 6500 European creatives across 21 countries.
“D&AD stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, believing in the sovereignty of the nation, the values of democracy and the right of its citizens to live in peace and safety,” the organization continued.
“As a charity serving the creative industries, our remit confines us to supporting the creative community. Therefore, in order to do what we can to support the creative industries in Ukraine, all money received by Ukrainian companies for entries into D&AD Awards 2022 will be refunded back to the entrants. These entries received to date, as well as any further work received from Ukrainian companies, will remain in the competition free of charge.”
‘Immediate action’
The group acknowledged that redistributing Russian entry fees to support the creative community in Ukraine was not a “comprehensive solution,” but instead an “immediate action” it could take to provide support to its colleagues and community in a country under siege.
On top of financial and trade sanctions from Western governments, the past week has seen Russia banned from participating in or hosting international events including the UEFA Champion’s League, the World Cup and the Eurovision song contest.
On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board also issued a resolution urging all international sporting events to prohibit Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing.
Brands are also severing ties with the country, including Shell and BP, which said it would exit joint ventures in Russia earlier in the week.
Creatives in Ukraine have issued an open brief to the global community calling on marketers to help ‘Prevent WW3’ by encouraging charitable donations, persuading the NATO alliance to close Ukraine’s skies and ‘hack Russian propaganda’.
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