2023 - Best in Show

Please note that all images are the property of The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, and are protected under copyright.

Adult Category Artist: Miriam Bellamy
Title of Entry: "The Good Samaritan"
Medium: Oil Painting on canvas
Dimensions: 16" x 20"

Description of Artwork: Resilient love involves showing mercy. Even in the harshest of circumstanc­es, such love serves as a testimony that is powerful and unstoppable. Love provides that glimmer of hope to keep going. The resulting resilience allows us to adapt and recover from difficult experiences. The parable of the Good Samaritan highlights what it is to walk the Christian journey in the footsteps of Christ – bringing the Good News of His salvation, even when those we minister to despise, ridicule and reject us. Resilient love enables us to extend His hands of mercy and demonstrate His love.

Youth Category Artist: Nadia Binnendyk
Title of Entry: "Resilient Love"
Medium: Clay, glaze and wire
Dimensions: 8" x 10"

Description of Artwork: The theme of "Resilient Love" is uniquely conveyed through this clay bust of an emaciated man squinting towards heaven. Nadia informed us that the sculpted man is representative of North Korean Christians who suffer intense persecution for their faith. The two hands represent the spiritual comfort and solidarity of the church resting on his shoulders.

Nadia further explains that anyone simply being caught with a Bible is likely to be sent to a gruelling labour camp, and only a few prisoners return from there alive. Currently, there are an estimated 30,000 North Korean Christians being held captive in forced labour camps where they are sub­jected to starvation and torture. Although the North Korean constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in reality, government officials consider the practice of all other unapproved religions a political crime. They perceive any affiliated religious connections to be a threat, fearing outsiders may attempt to overthrow their government. Juche  (the country's official ideology) prioritizes obedience to North Korea's three supreme political leaders: the late Kim II Sung; the late Kim Jong II; and now the two ancestral patri­archs' presently reigning descendant, Kim Jong Un.

Those who are known to descend from Christian families in North Korea are categorized as being among the lowest class of citizens, whose social standing is traditionally referred to as songbun. Starvation, as depicted in the gaunt appearance of the sculpted North Korean prisoner, is always a danger for those with the lowest songbun, as they have the least access to food. The use of barbed wire represents the people's lack of physical freedom, as the borders of North Korea are marked by fences, guards and tons of barbed wire. Repatriated escapees have reportedly sometimes been hung on the barbed wire as a warning to others who may try to escape.