Get ready to be inspired! The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is delighted to reveal the finalists of the 2023 Science Without Borders® Challenge. This year’s theme is “The Sixth Extinction,” and we challenged young artists from around the world to create a piece of artwork that highlights the beauty and importance of a marine species that are on the brink of extinction. We are thrilled with the entries that we received!
Over 1,200 entries flooded in from 67 different countries, and let us tell you, it was no easy feat to choose the finalists. But after much deliberation, our judges have selected finalists whose exceptional artwork surpassed all expectations in terms of creativity, originality, and adherence to the theme.
The submissions were simply breathtaking, and we can’t wait for you to see them. So, without further ado, here are the finalists for Ages 11-14 of the 2023 Science Without Borders® Challenge. These talented artists will leave you in awe with their remarkable creations that bring attention to the urgency of preserving our treasured marine species.
"Right Whale is Not Alone" by Candy Zhang, Age 11, China
ARTIST'S STATEMENT: A fat, slow, and docile North Pacific right whale mother and her kid are swimming in shallow waters near the shoreline with a mother and a daughter. Not far away, a humans' fishing boat with spears and nets gape the red mouth as if to proclaim the imminent disappearance of these endangered species from the earth. Look at the lights on the shore and the night glow in the water. How much the brightness of the night sky is given by the whale oil with blood and tears? But two pairs of mothers and daughters unaware of it, continue to play and sing. Do humans become less greedy? Or do these ocean giants no longer trust humans? The magnificent, capricious, colorful sea seems to respond to us silently.
