The John Byrne Award is an online platform and national competition encouraging engagement with values through the creative output of contributors.
It’s delivered by the charity, The Iris Initiative, and patroned by the artist, John Byrne. The aim of The Iris Initiative is ‘to better equip young people to afford them the greatest opportunity to shape their community and environment to best meet their needs, desires and values’. The John Byrne Award helps to achieve this aim by publicly recognising creative pieces of work that prompt thought, discussion and debate about personal and societal values.
Edinburgh Napier showcased some of the examples of works entered for the award in an exhibition at Merchiston in January. The competition’s aim was to explore societal views and entries were open to any kind of creative work, from poetry and short stories to photography, painting, film and audio.
Chancellor David Eustace and student ambassador Thomas Hutton (pictured above) attended the John Byrne Award ceremony last month to celebrate the award and its success.