Rome (Italy). The Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, has identified the winning proposal of the competition for the official poster of Strenna 2024 “The dream that makes you dream”. A heart that transforms ‘wolves’ into ‘lambs”.
Among the 32 proposals sent by 30 artists from all over the world for the global competition, the Commission created ad hoc under the coordination of Fr. Gildasio Mendes, General Councilor for Social Communication, selected five. The Rector Major chose that of the young Paraguayan Salmi Medina, graphic designer and illustrator, passionate about telling stories through images, and who is about to obtain a degree in Communications.
“The artistic concept that I tried to represent is basically the Salesian Spirit in a drawing. The author explained that the composition finds balance in the central characters: Don Bosco with his young boys, among whom the Saint always felt fulfilled. It reminds me a lot of the ‘Salesians Don Bosco’ logo, where Don Bosco and the Salesians are seen traveling with young people around the world. And just like that one, this illustration represents that very journey and a way he dreamed for young people… hope”.
The composition is constructed with a lively palette of colors in line with Don Bosco’s ‘always happy’. It represents on a conceptual level, the little Johnny who spent his afternoons entertaining young people and children as a tightrope walker. Then in a dream, he saw how with love, some wolves became lambs. From that moment on, he dedicated his life to service, no longer just dealing with a tightrope, but with great responsibility.
The Rector Major also indicated the posters classified in second and third place, whose authors will receive, along with the author of the winning poster, the corresponding monetary prize foreseen by the Competition.
Second place went to the Portuguese designer Nuno Quaresma, from the Social Communication Office of the “Saint Anthony” Province of Portugal. The author, who had already created one of the two posters for the 2023 Strenna, based his proposal on three scenes. At the top left, little Johnny dreams of young people fighting, wolves, and lambs. In the foreground, always on the right, is the scene of Johnny Bosco’s dialogue with those whom he will understand to be Mary Help of Christians and Jesus. To the side, there is a long line of cheering young people, those transformed by Salesian education over generations.
Third place went to Reg Silva, an illustrator and painter from Manila, Philippines, with a past also as an artist in motion graphics animation, involved in her parish both at a pastoral level and in the ministry of Communication. Presenting her work, she wrote, “I wanted to portray Jesus and Mary as protective and guiding figures for the young Don Bosco. As Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cradles a lamb in his arms, so too is little John Bosco, a reflection of his future ministry as a good shepherd, committed to the education and formation of young people, always with the guidance and protection of Mary. The entire image is then enclosed in a heart, the space in which, through the sanctifying grace of God, our personal transformation must take place. Only when our hearts are changed, will we be able to spread His grace to the young and transform the ‘wolves’ into ‘lambs’. This is the dream that makes us dream”.
The Strenna 2024 Poster file is available in digital format. On ANSFlickr and on the website sdb.org the version is accessible in the six languages most spoken in the congregation (English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Polish); while for editions in other languages, on OneDrive the editable file is available in .psd.
Source: InfoANS
